SMS or reverse-911 dialers to cell phones Anthony Townsend wrote: > i have one word - FaceBook > > ----- > > > http://www.technologyreview.com/Wire/18543/ > > Tuesday, April 17, 2007 > Colleges look for faster ways to get urgent emergency messages to > students during crises > By Associated Press > > The two hour delay between the time when shots first rang out at > Virginia Tech and when officials e-mailed a warning to its students > has thrown a spotlight on how schools can get critical news out > faster in a crisis. > > ''When you're in the middle of something, two hours is not very long. > But when you're looking in, it does seem like a long time,'' says > Mitchell Celaya, the assistant chief of campus police at the > University of California, Berkeley. > > At UC Berkeley, Celaya says an extreme emergency would warrant, among > other things, a siren on an outdoor public address system followed by > an announcement with instructions. > > The University of Florida is working with local police to place > automatic calls to campus telephones with similar kinds of messages, > including alerts about hurricanes and tornadoes. And the University > of Cincinnati has gone as far as making its public address system > audible inside buildings. > > ''There is no one magic communication system that we can press a > button and let everyone know what is going on,'' says Chris Meyer, > assistant vice president for safety and security at Texas A&M > University, where they use all of the above methods and others. > > Getting word out to students also was the plan at Virginia Tech, > where officials have been working on a system that would get > emergency alerts to students via text messages on their cell phones. > > That system was not in place Monday, during the deadliest shooting > rampage in modern U.S. history. Some students said their first notice > of trouble came in an e-mail at 9:26 a.m., after the second shooting > had begun. > > University president Charles Steger said the university decided to > rely on e-mail and other electronic means to spread the word, but > said that with 11,000 people driving onto campus first thing in the > morning, it was difficult to get the word out. > > The University of Georgia has joined a small but growing number of > institutions that are testing similar systems. Their service, > provided by the California-based NTI Group, is voluntary and allows > students to plug in various phone numbers and e-mail addresses to a > Web site -- and then transfers messages from the university using > phone systems outside the affected area so it doesn't jam local phone > lines. > > ''One person may be receiving five different messages through five > different means,'' says UGA spokesman Tom Jackson. > > Elsewhere, some universities are devising more targeted means of > security in hopes of quickening their responses. > > The University of Washington has a high-level safety team that was > put in place after a murder-suicide. The aim is to move staffers who > are in danger to other offices or provide them extra security > protection. However, that system failed recently when a 26-year-old > staffer was killed by her ex-boyfriend on April 2. > > There's also no guarantee that students will heed warnings. > > Diane Brown, spokeswoman for the University of Michigan's public > safety department, says officials there sometimes have trouble > getting students to exit buildings during fire alarms and other > emergencies because of false alarms. > > ''How do you overcome that desensitization?'' she asks. > > She and others note that it's also common for students to let > strangers into dorms that are locked or require key cards. Propping > doors open is also still a rampant practice. > > And the fact of the matter is, campuses are largely open places where > just about anyone -- especially a student -- is free to roam. > > For that reason, college officials across the country agree that, in > the end, no higher education institution is immune to this kind of > violence, no matter how well they prepare. > > ''Obviously, these crazy out-of-the-blue nightmare scenarios can > happen just about anywhere,'' says John Holden, a spokesman at DePaul > University in Chicago. > > ------ > > On the Net: > > International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators: > http://www.iaclea.org > > > > >
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