As reported in this News Leader article, the Virginia Tech Police Department will be examined by a team from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. beginning Aug. 29, in an attempt to gain accreditation.
VTPD arranged the assessment voluntarily.
A public information and comment session will be held on Aug. 31 at 3 p.m. at the Inn at Virginia Tech. Zc
Virginia Tech is ranked 71st among the country’s 100 best universities in US News and World Report’s latest rankings.
America’s Best Colleges 2010, produced a familiar result for Tech. The university has now been ranked 71st for three years in a row.
It is ranked 29th among public universities. Among public Virginia universities, it ranks third, behind only the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary.
Tech’s engineering program is ranked 14th and Pamplin College of Business ranked 42nd in the country. Zc
Lawyers for the families of April 16 victims that are plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Virginia Tech and state officials have asked Robert Miller, the former Cook Counseling Center director who returned Seung-Hui Cho’s mental health records, for more information.
A press release from Robert Hall, attorney for the families of April 16 shooting victims Erin Peterson and Julia Pryde, said the mental health documents released Wednesday were “remarkable for what they don’t contain.”
Hall sent a request for admissions to Miller’s counsel Thursday. He hopes to gain more information than Miller released in a public legal response Tuesday.
The request for admissions makes 65 assertions in relation to Miller’s knowledge of Cho and gives Miller the chance to respond.
It outlines the center’s interaction with Cho, as well as the internal communications of university personnel with Miller detailing Cho’s mental health history.
Read the document below:
If you have questions about the document or the assertions that should be investigated, send them to newseditor@collegiatetimes.com or post a comment. Zc
County court records show that Virginia Tech football player Zach Luckett, who was suspended for last season, has been charged with driving with a revoked or suspended license.
Luckett was stopped by Virginia Tech Police Officer Deriek Crouse on Aug. 6 and a report was filed Aug. 14.
Luckett was already scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 30 for other matters stemming from a March 30 incident. The hearing will determine whether or not Luckett has complied with the Virginia Alcoholic Safety Action Program.
He was convicted of DWI in September of 2008. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, but 11 months and 25 days were suspended. His drivers license was revoked for one year and he was put in VASAP.
A hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 1 in relation to the newest charge, which is a misdemeanor.
Luckett was reinstated to the football team prior to the beginning of practices. Zc
After a short vacation, the CT News Blog is back, and will be better than ever.
The blog will be updated very frequently, giving up to the minute information on campus and local events. In addition to my reporting, University News Editor Philipp Kotlaba will also be posting to the blog.
For starters, there are some changes associated with the move in for fall semester.
Washington Street is closed to thru traffic between Spring Road and Kent Street. It is being used as an unloading zone.
Parking services’ booth in Student Services is not open today, however, parking passes can be purchased at the parking services headquarters on Tech Center Drive.
Many student volunteers are around the residence halls to help students move into their dorms. Zc
A press release from the university says the VT Desktop Alert system is ready and available for students and faculty to download.
The newest addition to Virginia Tech’s Emergency Notification System is a widget-like program that sits dormant on a computer until an alert is sent out. When the widget receives the alert, which should be instantaneous, it will pop up on the screen of the user.
It was developed by Tech’s Communication Network Services department.
I originally reported on the program in this CT article.
The program requires an active Internet connection to function.
According to a press release, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has awarded a $1.9 million Economic Development Administration grant to Blacksburg and the Virginia Tech Foundation, with a goal of expanding the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center.
The release says the project will bring 2,000 jobs and $140 million in private investments to the CRC.
Congressman Rick Boucher said in the release that the CRC is expected to double in size.
More coming on this. Zc
As I reported last week, Democratic gubernatorial candidate has sent a letter to the families of victims of the April 16 shootings saying he favors a complete investigation into Cho’s mental health records and would involve the Governor’s Review Panel.
This, a statement criticizing the policy of Democratic governor Tim Kaine was not echoed by the Republican gubernatorial candidate, Bob McDonnell.
McDonnell, the attorney general under Kaine before resigning to pursue the governor race, issued a statement through spokesperson J. Tucker Martin.
“Bob McDonnell favors full and fair disclosure of all information relating to the tragedy at Virginia Tech. As Attorney General he worked closely with the Governor, families and investigators on this issue. With litigation still pending it would not be appropriate for him to comment further on the investigation, and he defers to the governor and attorney general on all decisions regarding the matter. His thoughts and prayers remain with all those impacted by this tragic day in our history.”
Families and university personnel have until Aug. 19 to submit possible corrections for the Governor Review Panel’s report. Corrections will be compiled by private information systems company TriData. Zc
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds sent a letter to families effected by the Virginia Tech shootings, saying he will “support efforts” to share Seung-Hui Cho’s newly discovered mental health records with the Virginia Tech Review Panel.
Current Gov. Tim Kaine, also a Democrat, has told families he does not plan to reconvene the panel, but later said he is not ruling anything out.
The letter, dated July 31, takes a stand in contrast to Gov. Kaine’s plan to employ private information systems company to TriData sort through information, and later make a decision on reconvening the panel. An excerpt from the letter is below:
“When this new information is released, I will support efforts to share these records with the Virginia Tech Review Panel to determined whether or not these records shed additional light on the panel’s original findings. If the new information has the potential to alter the conclusions in the panel’s final report, I will support efforts to formally reconvene the panel to update the report.”
Read the whole letter: Deeds Statement
The panel, which operated on a volunteer basis, was chaired by Col. Gerald Massengill.
Several victims’ families put an advertisement in the Richmond Times-Dispatch during the Democratic gubernatorial primary that opposed Deeds on the basis of gun issues.
Bob McDonnell’s campaign has not yet returned calls for comment. Zc
The man who opened fire in a Pittsburg-area fitness center bought handgun accessories from the same dealer that April 16 shooter Seung-Hui Cho purchased a gun from, according to this Associated Press report.
George Sodini, 48, killed three and injured nine before taking his own life in an L.A. Fitness Center in Collier Township, Pa.
The dealer, TGSCOM Inc. of Green Bay, Wisc., confirmed that Sodini made purchases. Zc