Times Editorial : Sign of the times
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The University of Arkansas is in the process of adopting a new system that will use technology used by virtually everyone - cell phones, text messaging, e-mails and home phones - to alert students, faculty and staff across the campus of any potentially serious situation within minutes.
Once the process is in place, the UA will join the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Arkansas State, among others, which are already in the emergency notification business. Officials at the UA's Fayetteville campus have been in the process of establishing text message alerts for about two years.
Such news is not a little deal. With RazALERT, university officials will have instantaneous access (at least, closer than is presently the case ) to the entire UA family. Whether students are taking political science classes in Old Main, journalism courses in Kimpel Hall, or studying in the afternoon sun at the Chi Omega Greek Theater, everybody will be on the same page when the circumstances demand mass notification.
Believe it or not, that's a really big deal - and no, it has nothing to do with university officials getting the word out about another tuition increase.
In the 1990 s, school administrators and media pundits had hoped a series of school shootings wouldn't inspire imitators. But that doesn't seem to be the case, as more recent and even more violent rampages at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University seem to attest.
Even the University of Arkansas fell victim to this cycle of violence when a graduate student killed one of his professors at Kimpel Hall on Aug. 28., 2000, then killed himself. We remember in great detail the professionalism of our local authorities, particularly UAPD, as they rapidly responded to that tragedy to ensure that no one else walked away physically harmed. But we also recall the confusion that reigned supreme throughout the student body, and the endless round of questions people asked," Are we safe ? "being tops among them.
Many lessons have evolved out of such episodes - one of them being that there are some crises school administrators cannot control and cannot communicate through a press release. In spite of bearing consequences which last a lifetime, incidents like those described above often unfold in a matter of minutes or even seconds. In that climate, it's natural that everyone involved is going to start asking questions and, possibly, panic. And since the majority of the people we're talking about are college students just trying to get through the day, the odds of tragedy being worsened due to a lack of information is a possibility we shudder to even consider.
That's what programs like this one are all about. Besides giving campus administrators a degree of control in a crisis situation, they're also about empowerment for the university student who might otherwise get lost in the mix. It's one thing for a stranger to tell you to stay put or run; it's quite another when a message suddenly arrives in the palm of your hand from people you can trust telling you exactly what to do. Besides calming nerves, such actions have the potential to save lives.
Best of all is this move to recognize the impact of technology on our lives. Young people live by text messaging, which is why RazALERT makes perfect sense. Sure, not every student in every room or hallway has a cell phone with them at all times, but most do. And that should be enough to make a difference on a campus that, even today, is still not that sprawling or ungovernable.
Is the UA a little behind the times in getting their system up and running ? Possibly. But let's all be glad it has finally arrived. And let's hope similar functions are heading soon to a university system near you. Frankly, given how pervasive cell phones are even with public school students, there's a case to be made for every school in America employing technology in this fashion.
Does all this sound like too much trouble to you ? If so, you probably don't have a young person attending public school in this day and age. If not, well, you ought to think twice. Better safe than sorry is, sadly, the only policy in today's world.
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