MU Chancellor Brady Deaton sent an e-mail to all students to remind them of the system that was installed after the Virginia Tech Massacre last year.

A task force was formed in Missouri to address the problems that faced a campus and members sought help from law enforcement, fire and mental health officials as well as students to see what other universities had in place.

The problem is that no matter how prepared a school can be, tragedy can always strike.

"It is a difficult problem set in an open and free society like we have here, that even putting an armed policeman in the room doesn't automatically guarantee there's not going to be loss of life," said Mark James, Director of Public Safety.

James was referring to the Kirkwood City Council shooting last week where policemen were in the room at the time of the meeting.

"Obviously what this is about is, 'How do you prepare to be as prepared as possible?'," said Dr. Robert Stein, Commisioner of Higher Education.

Both James and Stein believe that by having a solid plan in place is the only way to reduce the number of lives lost.

However, a solid plan for one college might not be right for the next, so each individual school needs to create their own program that is tailored for their needs.

"I think it's very dangerous to make the comparison because all things are not equal," Stein said. "Each campus is unique."

Stein's involvement with the Missouri Homeland Security Advisory Council includes him to follow up with all universities in Missouri to make sure that the schools are following up with the task force recommendations.

To sign up for MU's campus alerts, please click on the KOMU.com Extras on the left.