Des Moines Register
04-20-07
Universities study ways to warn students
Northern Iowa is starting a program that would send phone messages; Iowa is
considering one.
By ERIN JORDAN
REGISTER IOWA CITY BUREAU
Iowa City, Ia. - Iowa universities are looking at new methods of warning students
in case of emergencies like the shootings Monday at Virginia Tech University.
The University of Iowa is adding five new sirens that could broadcast a voice
message across campus, said U of I spokesman Steve Parrott. The U of I is also
considering a program that would allow students and employees to provide their
cell phone or home phone numbers so the U of I could send a recorded message
or text message if there is an emergency, he said.
"It puts some of the responsibility on the student," Parrott said. "If you want us to
contact you for an emergency, you have to give us your number."
How campuses warn their students about emergencies has become a hot topic
after students and faculty at Virginia Tech complained this week that the
university's e-mail warning about an earlier shooting on campus came only
minutes before Cho Seung-Hui, a VT student, gunned down 30 people in a
campus building.
Iowa's public universities use a variety of methods for campus alerts, including emails, phone trees, public address systems, messages posted on the school's
Web sites and computer pop-ups.
The University of Northern Iowa is in the process of implementing a Reverse 911
program that would allow campus police to send recorded messages to batches
of phone numbers across campus, said Milissa Wright, associate director of
public safety. The systems, which range in cost from about $35,000 to upwards
of $100,000, can be enhanced to send messages to larger groups or to issue text
messages, she said.
"The more information you have, the better off you are," Wright said.
Iowa State University officials have ongoing discussions about how to improve
warning systems on campus, said ISU Police Cmdr. Gene Deisinger. He
declined to say what measures ISU might take to improve emergency warnings,
but said text messaging and Reverse 911 are among the options.
Kane Johnson, a recent U of I graduate whose business, My-txt.com, involves
sending advertisements to college students via text messages, said texting is the
best way to reach students - many of whom no longer regularly check e-mail. "If
you send out a text message saying classes are canceled, no one's going to go,"
Johnson said.
Reporter Erin Jordan can be reached at (319) 351-6527 or ejordan@dmreg.com