HARRISBURG -- In the wake of Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech., State Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Bellefonte, proposed a school safety resolution to the Pennsylvania House yesterday.

Conklin is asking all Pennsylvania universities to implement alert systems similar to Penn State's current emergency plan, PSUTXT. Following the Penn State template, schools would be required to have a database which contains instant access to students' cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

PSUTXT, which was launched in August 2006 at University Park, has since opened up service to students of all Penn State commonwealth campuses, Penn State Spokeswoman Annemarie Mountz said.

"History has shown that when something like this happens, we have copycats that happen shortly afterward," Conklin said, adding that universities must begin to prepare safety plans to prevent future incidents of violence.

Conklin, whose son attends Lockhaven University, said he sympathized with parents of college students across the nation.

State Rep. Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne County, stressed the importance of a standardized safety system.

"There is no reason to have an array of different systems to communicate with faculty and students across campus," Eachus said. "When you have a child at a university and a tragedy like this happens, every parent begins to worry."

Conklin said text messaging in the event of an emergency is the most logical way to contact students. "As you get older, you realize technology has changed -- almost every student in America has a cell phone, and the ability to communicate technologically has developed," Conklin said.

Conklin also suggested that the alert system be used to notify students and faculty of power outages and natural disasters as well as acts of violence on campus.

"This is not time to sit back ... this is about making individuals safer," Conklin said.

The proposal is a resolution, not a bill, so if approved, the House would be asking and not requiring universities to participate.

Conklin compared the university notification system to the VINE system that Centre County Correctional Facility uses to contact victims when inmates escape from jail. He said this tool has been extremely effective throughout his seven years in office.

The costs to set up a notification system at other universities would be minimal, Conklin said, adding that most universities currently have student databases in place, leaving the total costs to be that of text messaging.

"We're talking about almost no cost," he said.

The House discussed the resolution yesterday. By press time it was not known if the resolution was passed.

"We in the Democratic caucus think this is a priority," he said. "Let's do this and let's do it today."