I’d like to express my condolences for the members of the Virginia Tech community and everyone else touched by the violence last week. I was personally very disturbed by what happened and I’m hoping to start a discussion about the ramifications for us at Berkeley. We had an opportunity to discuss the tragedy in one of my classes and I was astounded to hear from my GSI that absolutely no emergency training (for earthquakes, fires, attacks, etc.) is given to the Professors or GSI’s. My dorm this year offered no information on emergency preparedness or procedures. While the University has stated that they will revisit their emergency policy, I wonder whether this vague guarantee is enough. Although I am not sure that what happened at Virginia Tech could have been prevented, it brings to light some weakness of University emergency response processes, particularly regarding communication between administrators and students. What do you know about Berkeley’s emergency response policies? What improvements could be made at Berkeley?