Chapter 6: Virginia Tech families win $11 million settlement from state{0}
Virginia Tech families win $11 million settlement from state
A judge in Virginia ruled that $11 million would go to the families of those injured or killed in last year’s Virginia Tech shootings. In the settlement are the families of 24 killed and 18 injured. Compensation also extends to include the opportunity to meet with the governor and Virginia Tech officials to look at legislation and improvements made on the campus to avoid future tragic incidents.
The main reason that the families pursued wrongful death claims and personal injury claims is the sluggishness that the university showed in sharing information with students. The claim was made that if they had shared information sooner with students (thus warning them of potential and in this case real danger), injuries and deaths could have been avoided. Two students were found dead at 7:00 A.M., but students were not warned by e-mail until about 9:30 A.M. The shooter started shooting again around 9:50, not giving many students even a chance to check their e-mails.
I chose this article because a sobering reflection of the need for timely and accurate information in many cases. The textbook touches on the need for businesses to have timely, quality, transactional and analytical information. A university is a business and sometimes may not realize that the students need that information too. With lives at stake, more of an effort should be made to share information. New techniques can be established such as: timely e-mail alerts, social networking cite alerts, texting alerts, and alerts made to the staff as a whole.
CNN (2009) Virginia Tech families win $11 million settlement from state, CNN. Retrieved October 1, 2009, from http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/17 /virginia.tech.settlement/index.html?iref=newssearch