This is the great debate that the state of Michigan will soon be considering… Bill #5474, which will prohibit campuses from banning weapons, is currently being introduced to the House of Representatives by State Rep Wayne Schmidt R-Traverse City.

The following are sections of the bill that explicitly state what institutions of higher learning will not be able to do:

“A local unit of government or institution of higher education shall not impose special taxation on, enact or enforce any ordinance or regulation pertaining to, or regulate in any other manner the ownership, registration, purchase, sale, transfer, transportation, or possession of pistols or other firearms, ammunition for pistols or other firearms, or components of pistols or other firearms, except as otherwise provided by federal law or a law of this state,”

Eastern Michigan University’s police chief Greg O’Dell believes that this gun law is a cause for concern. “Some of our concerns would be if you had a situation where people have a fight,” O’Dell said. “Say you have a situation where police officers are pulling up to a scene where everyone has guns. There’s no way of telling who the bad guys are. The whole idea of people carrying a dangerous weapon on campus makes me a little uncomfortable.”

SmartSecurityPeople.com usually reserves it’s opinion on many issues and tries to report emerging topics with an unbiased view. However, we just have to ask…is Wayne Schmidt crazy? Can you imagine sending your student to a University in Michigan knowing that they are allowed to carry weapons on campus? With the latest events of Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, the introduction of this bill certainly has to make you think.

Since we would like to think that this elected official is not “off his rocker”, we did some investigating in regards to Traverse City and as you can see from google maps it is surrounded by hundreds of miles of the most rural sections of god’s country that you can find in the midwest. Based upon this demographic data, our wisest assumption is that he is trying to protect the rights of college age hunters that would like to keep their rifles in the trunks of their cars while on campus. However, the bill that he is introducing will not distinguish between a handgun, a semi-automatic, or a hunting rifle and opens uppandora’s box in regard to what kind of weapons will be allowed on university and college campuses in the state of Michigan.

Many may not be aware but there is a great rivalry between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines. Each year they take turns hosting one of the most popular football games of the season at their respective University. Depending on who wins the game and which University has home field advantage, there are typically riots immediately following the game. Some of these riots end with cars being turned over, things being caught on fire, and a great number of fights and brawls amongst the impassioned college students. With this knowledge in mind, what role do you think an authorization of guns being allowed on campus will have on these events?

So.. How do you feel about allowing weapons on campus? Let us and others know below in the comments section.

February 18th, 2008 changed the course of campus security for many educational institutions across the nation. This is the day that Stephen Kazmierczak opened fire on 140 students in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University. He shot over 21 people, killing five, before turning the gun on himself.

One year later, NIU Chief of Security Donald Grady states that it has adjusted it’s campus police protocol to provide better and more consistent services to an ever-changing campus climate. One big change that Grady has implemented is making sure his officers are embedded in campus life. “They’re dressed like students, they look like students. In fact, they go to class. They are in effect students but they are highly trained, highly qualified, highly capable,” said Chief Grady. This program is dubbed CAMPUS (Community Assault Mitigation Program for University Systems) and likens the same training that federal air marshals receive. Chief Grady won’t relinquish the number of undercover “students” he has on campus but hopes that their known presence will dissuade anyone from wanting to do anything unlawful. “So if we have another response like this(February 18th shooting), the bad guy-the shooter- doesn’t know what class they’re in, he doesn’t know where he’s going to find them,” said Chief Grady.

NIU security officials have also recently adopted a mandate that requires all university officers to get counseling. “When we insist everybody go now the stigma is gone because everybody had to go in there. Now what you say when you’re in there is between you and the psychologist,” said Chief Donald Grady. The purpose of this is to assure that officers are prepared to respond to all potential situations, regardless of how horrific they may be.

Since the attack, the university has been working on new ways to communicate with students and staff including text messaging, adding loud speakers outdoors and creating a system that allows all the loud speakers to be centrally controlled. “The thing about communication in crises that I know is that there is no one technology that is going to solve that problem. It’s communicate, communicate, communicate any way you can,” said John Peters, NIU president. The president also indicates that the University is investing more resources and attention to the mental health services offered onNIU’s campus. He goes on to say that students may not have come forward in the past because they didn’t know where to turn for help. He hopes that the increased awareness of the mental health services may provide students the help that they need before their situation becomes a crisis.
NIU recently unveiled the plans for a new garden that will be placed on campus to serve as a memorial for the five students killed in the shooting. A highlighted feature of the garden will be five sections of granite (the reflection wall) that will each be 10 feet wide, 4 1/2 feet tall and bearing the name of one of the five students. The garden will provide a secluded sitting area that will be surrounded by 20 dawn redwood, white oak, and evergreen trees. President John Peters states, “In contrast to the events that occurred at Cole Hall a year ago today, this will forever be a special place of peace and reflection on our campus. Memorial Garden will honor the memories of the five students we lost that day, while at the same time embracing the resolute Huskie spirit characterized by ‘Forward, Together Forward.’ ”

NIU Facts:

• Located 65 miles west of downtown Chicago
• Total enrollment of 24,397 students (fall 2008)
• Student to Faculty Ratio: 17 to 1
• NIU offers outreach learning centers in: Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford and Oregon

SmartSecurityPeople.com is pleased to provide the following campus safety and security tips for college bound students.

1. Do Not Stroll Around Campus After Hours- If you do, make sure you utilize the buddy system. If you don’t have a buddy available, call someone with your cellphone and talk to them during the walk back to your residence hall.
2. Be Careful Of What You Post On MySpace Or Facebook- Social Online Networking is the greatest and worst thing to hit the campus community. Don’t make yourself a target. Filter what you post on your account and control who has access.
3. Don’t Let Just Anyone In- If your campus has residence halls that have controlled access, please be aware that they do this for a reason. It is to keep bad people out. If you are going into your dorm and someone that you don’t know tries to follow in behind you, shut the door. If you see a suspicious person in your residence hall or on campus, call the security office. They are there to help. You should memorize their number or program it in your phone.
4. Get To Know Your Campus- The first week that you are on campus, you should familiarize yourself with the campus. You will be there for the next 4-5 years, so it will prove to be useful on many levels. Make note of the more common routes, the security phone locations, and the “safe zones” that your campus provides. That is why we also recommend #5….
5. Avoid Shortcuts- Especially after dark! This should go without saying. There is a reason why people are not taking the shortcuts. They are typically not the safest route, have very little to no lighting after dark, and always end up drawing the most unscrupulous of characters. Just avoid them and take the extra time to get to your destination safely.
6. Excessive Alcohol Consumption Is Never Good- I know, I know.. college campuses and alcohol consumption appear to always go hand-in-hand. We are not suggesting that you can not drink. You just need to drink responsibly. If you wake up the next morning and are missing half of your clothing, find a new tattoo and have no idea where you are at… you are probably drinking too much. If keeping yourself safe means drinking a little less, then so be it.
7. Do Not Leave Your Belongings Unattended- Bookbags and purses are the number one items that come up missing on campuses all the time. You may feel as though you can trust your environment and leave your bag at the table when you go to find another research book in the library or get another helping of food from the food court but if you leave your bag unattended you are taking a chance that it will not be there when you return. Take it with you or ask someone nearby to watch your stuff (assuming that you know them or at the very least they look like a trustworthy person). Besides… textbooks are expensive to replace!
8. Share Your Class Schedule With Friends and Family- and no.. don’t post it up on MySpace or Facebook for all to see (refer to #2 above). If your friends and family have your schedule each semester, it gives them a good idea of when they can expect to see or talk with you.  If you are ever going somewhere outside of the normal schedule, let someone know. Also, tell them when you think you may be back. It just makes good sense.
9. Don’t Carry Cash- This should be easy for most college students just because they don’t typically have a lot of cash. However, we at SmartSecurityPeople.com encourage you to keep cash in the bank and use your debit or credit card for your purchases on and off campus. Also, cash under your mattress in your dorm room is a bad idea as well!
10. Visit the Security Office- When you are choosing a college and safety and security is an important factor, stop by the campus security office and ask them for a recent copy of their security report. By law they are required to make these available to everyone that asks. In the report they should have graphs, charts, and statistics showing the number of incidents they have had on campus during the last year. Most reports go back at least five years. While you are stopping by, ask them if they have a safety manual for their students. If they are a reputable security office, they should have something available in a handout or brochure form.

SmartSecurityPeople.com strongly encourages students to follow these Campus Safety and Security tips. We also recognize that while we have only published these ten tips, there are probably a lot more ideas out there amongst our peers. If you have additional suggestions to help out our college bound students, please feel free to share below.

A recent article from Pioneer Press reveals a situation where a student engaged in a relationship with a professor at the University of St. Thomas that ultimately ended with her email account being compromised and the professor being arrested by the FBI and being charged federally for his actions (not the relationship with the student - the breaking into her email actions). As you read through the article, you can very quickly realize that both parties (Koster, 27 and Grzeskowiak, 34) in this situation are not dealing with a full deck. Their history together carries a number of restraining orders, accusations of stalking, and both have apparently been getting counseling. It is certainly something that you would expect to see on Jerry Springer. None-the-less, the relevance of this situation is to educate you about a software package (SniperSpy) that was used by the professor. Apparently, you can install this on anyone’s PC and instantly give you access to everything that person is doing on that computer. It has the ability for you to access the computer remotely and view the same screen shot that they are seeing on their monitor. Here is a list of all that it can track:

• Web Sites Visited
• Applications Executed
• Keystrokes Typed
• Passwords Typed
• Documents Opened
• Windows Opened
• File Changes
• Folder Changes
• Active Window Shots
• Full Instant Messaging Chats
• Live Screen Viewing

If anyone you know, or don’t know, tries to install something like this on your computer, please delete the program immediately. No good can come from it. Based upon the list of what this program can accomplish; your identity, not to mention your privacy,  could be greatly compromised.

Does anyone know of any other programs, similar to SniperSpy, that we should try to avoid?