AIA architects have been busy talking to major media outlets as the attention of news editors and producers has—as usual in late August—turned to the coming school year. Think like a journalist, and it won't take you long to figure out that the hot school topic this year again is security. (Even your editors at AIArchitect took that bait, as you can see in the posting of the September issue of AIArchitect Online.)

Of note are three features with major circulation: NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, "Profile: Building Safer Schools"; CNN on bulletproof schools, and the Seattle Times "Crime prevention a design priority in school construction."

NBC highlights CAE member
AIA Committee on Architecture Advisory Group Member Thomas H. Blurock, AIA, of Costa Mesa, Calif., was the right person at the right place for producers of the Nightly News with Tom Brokaw August 26. Wrapping up a site visit early, he was able to get to Los Angeles to give substance to Dan Lothian's report on security in schools. Pointing out the value of open spaces with "back eddies and places to hide," is just one design approach to security that is comfortable to live with. "There's a tendency to react rather than to plan," Blurock told Lothian's viewers. "And whenever that happens, that's when you're putting bars on windows."

CNN, "Building Bulletproof Schools"
On August 23, CNN's story on school safety focused on the emerging issue and some of the related hardware and design approaches. Story at CNN site.

Seattle Times gets things rolling
The Times was one of the early August entries in this string of related reports with an August 5 story that included area examples of schools with security upgrades and quotations from Steven Bingler,AIA ; Lorne McConachie, AIA; and Ronald Peters, AIA. Story at Seattle Times site.

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