2008 Woodie Awards
Bomb threat culprit sacrifices safety in favor of childish prank
Issue date: 3/27/08 Section: Editorial
Editorial
Picture it: students in class taking notes and tests while the professor lectures. It seemed like any other Thursday in March until a disturbing call came in that there might be a bomb in Grote Hall.
Buildings were evacuated, students were ushered into the streets and wide set panic filled the university staff, officials and its student body. Seems like a cheap action film, doesn't it?
Many spectators have commented on how the situation was handled. Debates have been waged whether university officials and campus police approached the situation appropriately. But the real question should be, what about the person who actually made the threat?
We can dance around the real problem and deal with the peripheral characters until we are blue in the face, but nothing of real importance will be solved until we first address the culprit.
According to Robert Ratchford, chief of campus police, bomb threat simulations along with shooter scenerios have been practiced over the summer by the campus police, along with the Chattanooga Police Department and the Chattanooga Bomb Squad.
The university and campus police have practiced countless drills concerning this very incident, but how can they possibly factor in the stupidity of an individual?
Students need to wake up! For whatever reason, a real threat was made concerning a bomb. Violence on school campuses is a reality of modern life.
The Virginia Tech. massacre happened less than a year ago, and was by no means a laughing matter. Countless universities have experienced similar tragedies, and for one person to make light of those by giving an empty threat of this magnitude is absolutely shocking.
There is no excuse that will allow such childish behavior and obvious disrespect for everyone on campus. No matter what the reason, whether someone's dog died, they lost their notes or they just got dumped the day before, there is not an excuse legitimate enough to pull this sort of prank.
Picture it: students in class taking notes and tests while the professor lectures. It seemed like any other Thursday in March until a disturbing call came in that there might be a bomb in Grote Hall.
Buildings were evacuated, students were ushered into the streets and wide set panic filled the university staff, officials and its student body. Seems like a cheap action film, doesn't it?
Many spectators have commented on how the situation was handled. Debates have been waged whether university officials and campus police approached the situation appropriately. But the real question should be, what about the person who actually made the threat?
We can dance around the real problem and deal with the peripheral characters until we are blue in the face, but nothing of real importance will be solved until we first address the culprit.
According to Robert Ratchford, chief of campus police, bomb threat simulations along with shooter scenerios have been practiced over the summer by the campus police, along with the Chattanooga Police Department and the Chattanooga Bomb Squad.
The university and campus police have practiced countless drills concerning this very incident, but how can they possibly factor in the stupidity of an individual?
Students need to wake up! For whatever reason, a real threat was made concerning a bomb. Violence on school campuses is a reality of modern life.
The Virginia Tech. massacre happened less than a year ago, and was by no means a laughing matter. Countless universities have experienced similar tragedies, and for one person to make light of those by giving an empty threat of this magnitude is absolutely shocking.
There is no excuse that will allow such childish behavior and obvious disrespect for everyone on campus. No matter what the reason, whether someone's dog died, they lost their notes or they just got dumped the day before, there is not an excuse legitimate enough to pull this sort of prank.
