The Virginia Tech tragedy revealed a glaring public safety problem on campuses across the country. It illustrated the need for a crisis address system to notify students if a tragedy should occur on campus. In the case of Virginia Tech, the perpetrator murdered one student two hours before he returned to campus, killed 31 people and wounded 23 others.
Would the death count be lower if students had been warned to stay off campus? Revisiting the past won’t change events, but it could be used to prevent another massacre.
While other universities are experimenting with solutions to rectify the problem, the U’s administration isn’t making designing a method a priority. In fact, the U’s disaster preparedness task force recently disbanded, declaring that its work was done.
However, if a tragedy similar to Virginia Tech’s occurred at the U, there are no safeguards in place that would prevent history from repeating. In addition, the U is the only university in Utah that doesn’t have red phones in classrooms. These act as two-way radios that connect directly to the police in the case of an emergency. These phones would alert authorities quicker and provide a faster response time.
The lack of a crisis alert system could be because the complex problem of reaching the U’s more than 42,000 students and staff both on and off campus doesn’t offer any simple solutions. However, the price of inaction is too great. If just one student’s life were saved by a system — no matter how incomplete — it would be a success.
Text messaging is one option with which other universities are experimenting. Nearly everyone on campus has a cell phone, so this appears to be the best option to reach most students.
However, concerns about students checking their phones during class could create a distraction. Leaving students without cell phones in the dark isn’t fair, either. Maybe an automated voice message could deliver messages to land lines. Administrators are also concerned that students would be hesitant to provide their cell numbers. But a phone number, as well as emergency contact information, is required in the student profile.
A text-based system comes with a hefty annual price tag of $80,000 — about $2.50 per student. Administrators say this cost is too great for a system that they’re not convinced will work. Maybe it is the technological divide between generations, but a potentially flawed system seems better then no system.
What are the other options? A fire-alarm type siren or an intercom address could warn students on campus, but what about those heading toward the university?
Regardless of the scenario or system, a segment of students is excluded. The framework for a phone-based alert system is already in place. Utilizing it should be a start for administrators. They shouldn’t stop with one solution but a multi-tiered approach that connects all students through a variety of measures.
