August 13, 1999

MORGANTOWN, W.Va..... U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., Friday announced that James Alan Fox, the Lipman Family  Professor  of Criminal Justice and former Dean of the College of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University, will deliver the keynote address during the upcoming school safety symposium to be held at West Virginia University  (WVU).

"Dean Fox is widely recognized as a national authority on youth violence, and will lend his expertise to this important symposium.  I look forward to his participation, and I believe that West Virginians  will  benefit from his insights," Byrd said.

Fox has served as a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on School Shootings and the U.S. Department of Education's Expert Panel on Safe, Disciplined, and  Drug-Free  Schools.  He has published 13 books and dozens of journal articles and newspaper columns, primarily in the subject areas of murder, juvenile crime, and workplace violence.  He has testified before Congress,  advised  President Clinton and Vice President Gore, and held private briefings with Attorney General Janet Reno on youth violence. 

"In addition to Dean Fox, the symposium will feature two panels that will  examine school  and community efforts to counter youth violence.  These panels will consist of West Virginians who have been leaders in their schools and communities at finding ways to prevent youth violence from occurring.   They will  examine what initiatives have worked, and what remains to be accomplished," Byrd explained.

The first panel will focus on school-based prevention strategies to reduce youth violence.  The panelists  are:  Judy  Sjostedt, a Wood County parent; Cleo Mathews, West Virginia Board of Education President; Christopher Enourato, Training Instructor, Education Training Services Unit at the FBI's Criminal Justice Information  Services Division in  Clarksburg; Jason Lintner, West Virginia State Trooper involved in the Monongalia County Safe Schools Program; and Robert Heldreth, a student at Wheeling Park High School.

The second panel  will examine community-based  youth prevention efforts.  Panelists include:  State Senator Lloyd Jackson of Lincoln County, West Virginia Senate Education Committee Chairman; State Senator Jon Blair Hunter of Monongalia  County, Joint Education  Subcommittee on Productive and Safe Schools Co-Chairman; The Reverend Matthew J. Watts, Grace Bible Church in Kanawha County; Dr. Toni Goodykoontz, Medical Director, Chestnut Ridge Day Hospital and  Assistant Professor, WVU School  of Medicine; and Christine Martin, 1999 National Freedom Forum Winner and Interim Dean of the WVU School of Journalism.

Byrd and WVU are co-hosting the event, called "Building  Safe Schools and Healthy Communities: The  West Virginia Response."  The day-long symposium will be held on Saturday, August 21, at the WVU College of Law.  Following the panel discussions, symposium participants will  react to points made by the morning speakers,  examine areas that might be strengthened at the community and state levels, and discuss appropriate roles for the federal government.

"West Virginia has  consistently tackled the issue of youth violence in a broad way  through an array of strong community, schoolbased, and state programs.  Senator Byrd has provided a means for us to lift up a sampling of that response and  collectively discuss areas in need of further development.  Most  important, we can model for others how West Virginia works together on effective solutions," said WVU President David C. Hardesty, Jr.

 "While there is no single cure-all to the problem of school violence, it is  important to remember that prevention is a shared responsibility.  Protecting our nation's children ought to be a team effort of schools,  families, communities, and churches -- and not simply a matter of public policy.  I  look forward to working with the symposium participants, and strengthening efforts to prevent the horror of school violence from striking at  our communities," Byrd said.