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Notre Dame To Quit Using Hydraulic Lifts For Videotaping

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (CBS) -- The University of Notre Dame will no longer use hydraulic lifts for filming football practices, after a 20-year-old student fell to his death during a windstorm in October.

Declan Sullivan, a student videographer was killed Oct. 27 of last year, when a scissor lift he was on toppled over while he was filming football practice. The National Weather Service reported gusts of up to 51 mph at the time.

In response, university officials said Tuesday that from now on, a remote video system will be used to tape practices.

The university says four cameras are being placed atop 50-foot-high poles. The system will be ready when spring practice opens March 23.

Sullivan, of Long Grove, tweeted his fears about the danger of the wind within an hour of his death.

"Gusts of wind up to 60mph well today will be fun at work... I guess I've lived long enough :-/" Sullivan wrote in one post on Twitter and Facebook.

The sarcasm stopped about an hour later, when he wrote, "Holy f--- holy f--- this is terrifying."

The school and state regulators are investigating the accident.

(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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