The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/28/09 Section: Opinions

Media Credit: JAKE DANIELS University police patrol downtown Saturday as an Athens resident watches at the scene. [Click to enlarge]

Lack of lockdown

The University made the right decision not to lock down every campus building.

The University needed to lock down campus!

Why didn't it do more to protect the University community?

Are our children safe? Are we safe?

Parents and students have decried the University's handling of safety concerns following the tragic triple homicide in Athens Saturday.

But we haven't heard one complaint about continuing Twilight festivities, fit with thousands of students and visitors herded into overcrowded beer gardens downtown the same afternoon. These throngs of spectators watching the bike race confirm one thing - adults will do what they want, go where they want, when they want.

As University Police Chief Jimmy Williamson pointed out, you can't keep grown people from going outside.

And we're glad instead of wasting valuable resources and time by attempting to lock down every building on campus, police officers and SWAT teams focused on stopping the threat.

Of course, if the shooting had occurred on campus, and especially on a weekday, locking down the entire University would be an appropriate - and likely - precaution.

But it didn't. The biggest relation between the incident and the University is the main suspect - a Terry college professor.

The University sent UGAAlert messages and updates Saturday afternoon, police officers surrounded Brooks Hall, where professor George Zinkhan's office was located, and the Main Library - the primary place on campus students would be on a Saturday - was locked down by its employees.

We think the University reacted with care and took necessary precaution without going too far. With so many people undeterred from swarming the sidewalks during Twilight (an event closer to the shooting than campus), the University judged its student body accurately - no one wanted to stay inside and pass up a cold one.

- Kelly Shaul for the editorial board

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