FAU officials ponder siren system to warn students

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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... -headlines

BOCA RATON -- Administrators at Florida Atlantic University are considering installing sirens to alert students and staff to an emergency.

President Frank Brogan said that's one of the options that came up Tuesday morning during a two-hour meeting with top university leaders discussing the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre.

"There's not a new technology that we are aware of that allows instantaneous communication of an emergency situation," Brogan said.

Virginia Tech has been criticized for not immediately notifying students and staff after the first shooting on campus when two people were killed. Less than two hours later, another shooting killed more than 30 students and teachers.

At schools across South Florida, top administrators met Tuesday to digest what happened on a campus hundreds of miles away, plan memorial services and assess their own emergency plans.

Brogan said a siren could be used to prompt students and staff to find out more either through text messages, a reverse 911 system or even a public address system.

"The siren would get your immediate attention," he said.

The agenda for the first hour of a regularly scheduled meeting at Palm Beach Community College was ignored as top administrators discussed Virginia Tech, said Richard Becker, vice president of administration and business services who oversees security

A Virginia Tech-like situation is one of my biggest fears as the person in charge of the administration" and security of the community college, Becker said.

"I'm in charge of the budget. I don't lose sleep over the budget," he said. "I'm in charge of technology. I don't lose sleep over technology. I'm in charge of security. I lose sleep over security."