The Associated Press

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The killing of a freshman student at Western Kentucky University earlier this month is forcing many of the state's colleges and universities to re-examine campus safety measures.

University officials around the state are looking over policies on key access to dormitories, video surveillance and requiring identification for visitors, among other issues.

Melissa "Katie" Autry, 18, died in a Tennessee hospital after being severely burned by a fire in her dormitory. Two Scottsville men have been arrested and charged with murder in her death.

"We have been revisiting our policies, discussing them and making sure they're as good as they can be," said Shannon Staten, director of student housing and residence life at the University of Louisville.

The outside doors of dorms on UofL's campus are locked 24 hours a day, and a computer card is required to get inside. It takes separate keys to get onto a floor and then into a particular room.

At the University of Kentucky, Jim Wims, director of residence life, said his staff will put added emphasis on safety in meetings with students over the summer and early fall.

At UK, some dorms have computer-card-access doors that are locked 24 hours a day, and other dorms will be upgraded to have the same technology.

Visitors also must leave identification at the lobby desk before going to a student's room.

When students return to Georgetown College in the fall, safety officials said they will be direct about dealing with exterior dorm doors that are propped open to let in friends. It's a continuous problem at the school, said spokesman Jim Durham. Durham said Autry's death would make it easier to reinforce school policy that the doors remain closed and accessible only to those with a key.

At Western Kentucky, school officials have formed a task force to improve safety.

Two Scottsville men, Lucas B. Goodrum, 21, and Stephen L. Soules, 20, have been charged in Autry's death.

Sgt. Mike Dowell, a WKU police detective, said Soules told police he and Goodrum raped and beat Autry and set her on fire.

The case is heading to a grand jury.

Stephen Pereira, an exchange student from India, is living at Pearce-Ford Tower on the Western Kentucky campus. The tower is next to Hugh Poland Hall, Autry's dorm.

After an armed robbery on Pereira's floor last fall, several fire alarms in the building before final exam week, and Autry's murder, he said he does not feel safe.