News Reporter
Colorado’s no stranger to violent tragedies. Months after the horrific shooting in Aurora our state is still healing, and the process is prolonged by other massacres across the nation.
“It just seems like shootings in public are becoming more common,” Criminal Justice major Natasha Koeski said at last week’s Safety Seminar.
The seminar, presented by Dr. Nicoletti, a first responder to both Columbine and Virginia Tech, recounted the logistics of violent attacks, inviting the community into an open discussion on prevention.
“If you want to become a better skier you have to keep skiing,” Nicoletti said, creating an analogy for individuals with violent tendencies. “These are what we call avengers. They have a progression. Imagine it’s a warm day, a foot and a half of fresh powder, no lift lines, tickets are half priced and the ski area is giving free beer. You’ll keep skiing until you hit a tree.”
Of course Dr. Nicoletti wasn’t actually referring to trees. He expanded his analogy to demonstrate the importance of stopping threatening behavior before it’s too late.
“Three-fourths of all attackers wander in the main entryway,” Dr. Nicoletti said. “If you’re going to prevent an attack you need a centralized data connection.”
For CMU that centralized data connection includes the office of John Marshall, Vice President of Student Services.
“Over the last several years we’ve incorporated a lot of Dr. Nicoletti’s recommendations,” Marshall said. “At this stage our challenge is continuing to communicate really effectively so we can give students help, resources and support.”
As Dr. Nicoletti notes, identifying potential threats on college campuses can be particularly difficult because “anything goes.” Dr. Nicoletti also expressed his opinion on concealed weapons on campus.
“If you’re going to arm people you have to assume collateral damage and officers will have a hard time identifying the target,” Nicoletti said. “I’m a big advocate of school resource officers.”
The routine presence of police on campus is intended to discourage potentially violent individuals.
“Everyone has a responsibility,” Nicoletti said. “Don’t worry alone. If you see something or hear something, say something.”
If the unthinkable were to happen and students were put in a dangerous situation with an avenger, Dr. Nicoletti says to either get out, lock out, or hide out, depending on the situation.
“I think the detection and disruption framework is one of the most important things we can benefit from here on campus,” Marshall said. “Our hope is we continue to have a campus wide dialogue about safety and about the role all of us can take.”
As always John Marshall encourages students with an urgent issue to contact police. His office, as well as Residence Life are also available to address any questions or concerns.
cferganc@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
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