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University to install new door locks

Written by Larissa M. Robinson

Tuesday, 08 July 2008 07:27 PM

The university will install new locks on classroom doors that allow occupants to secure rooms from the inside.

The locks will be applied to approximately 200 classroom doors this summer as an added security precaution stemming from the Virginia Tech shootings last year.

Police chief Bob Hayes said the university decided it would install the locks after he reviewed a Virginia Tech investigation report in January.
Being able to lock classroom doors from the inside was one of the recommendations.

The locks will be installed on doors that don’t have card readers. It will cost the university an estimated $50,000-$55,000, Hayes said.
“We hope to have the project well underway by the beginning of the fall semester,” he said.

John Hall, Administration and Campus Operations vice president, said the old locks would remain in place and the new ones will be added to the doors.

Hall said the university was looking at different locks that also complied with fire and life safety code.

English junior Emily Hobbs said she was shocked by Virginia Tech, where a lone gunman killed 32 people. Last month a judge approved an $11 million settlement with most of the victims’ families, according to AP reports.

Hobbs said she feels safe on campus and thinks installing new locks “aren’t a bad idea.”

“It’s sad to hear that things like Virginia Tech are so common,” she said. “Things can happen anywhere and I don’t think it hurts to have that precaution.”

Philip McGee, locksmith supervisor at Key Control Services, said the new locks are similar to those installed at Virginia Tech after the shootings.

“They have the same function, they’re just made by a different manufacturer,” he said.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 24 September 2008 03:55 PM )

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