It is no secret that the events of April 16th are never far from the minds of Virginia Tech students. After gunshots were rumored to have taken place in Pritchard Hall last Thursday, students found themselves in an uncomfortably familiar position. Limited information scrolled across screens in classrooms. However, faculty and students were left unaware of what was truly happening or what to do.
Although the emergency systems put in place since April 16 are an improvement from what we had on that tragic day, they are far from perfect. While police took minutes to respond to the report of gunfire, it took the alert system almost an hour to inform students and faculty about the issue.
When the incident was finally broadcast in classrooms, neither professors nor students knew what to do. Was the campus on lock-down? Should everyone evacuate? Professors were left wondering how to keep their students safe. The only information being fed to classrooms said police were investigating possible gunshots on campus; e-mails said the same. Those students registered for text message and voicemail alerts got the same limited information, and not everyone registered even received the messages.
For an alert system to work well, ideally, the alert would go out as soon as police were called. Perhaps the message could be constantly updated with new information and a plan of action could be part of the message. Students and faculty should know more than only the most basic information in a time of crisis. They need to know how the university is handling it. More specifically, what are we supposed to do? Should students not plan on coming to class if they are off campus? Should the students on campus stay in their classrooms and lock the doors or should they leave campus as quickly as possible?
Sending out tidbits of information almost an hour after an incident has occurred does not seem to be the most efficient way to alert the Tech community.
While credit is due for the improvements made thus far, the Tech alert system is nowhere near perfect.
Although the supposed gunfire last Thursday did pointlessly frighten our community, it served a greater purpose in testing the new alert systems.
The editorial board is composed of David Grant, David McIlroy, Laurel Colella, Sally Bull, Jackie Peters, Alexandra Kaufmann and Jenna Marson.
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Ya it would make sense to tie the VT alert system in with the 911 office
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