Marty Meehan ( @martymeehan), the president of the University of Massachusetts, just marked five months on the job. Before that, he spent more than a decade in Congress. He joined Jim to discuss the nation's reaction to the mass shooting in California.
"I think on a night like tonight," said Meehan, "the first thing that needs to happen is that every American needs to stop, take a step back, and ask themselves what kind of country are we becoming? What kind of country do we want to be? And once we reject the notion that mass shootings are part of American life, then it's time to have a holistic approach to put pressure on Congress."
Meehan believes part of the problem is the polarization of both political parties, which means less interaction. "Both sides aren't talking," he said. "They just don't do it anymore."
All of the UMass campuses have specific policies for dealing with active shooters, according to Meehan, which they are constantly reviewing. "We look at what we have for security, we look to increase the number of police officers we have, we look to put more resources into technology to determine what are our best practices... we have exercises, active shooter training."
Meehan also discussed some of his future goals for the UMass system in general. "It's about pushing for excellence in everything you do," he said pointing to the Amherst campus as one he believes is on the right track.
