The Herald Online

Issue date: 1/28/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Abdullah Raslan Students can register for text mesage and e-mail alerts at the University Police Department Web site.

How do students find out if there is an emergency on campus? Well, if they are signed up with the Emergency Alert System, they are supposed to receive an e-mail or text message.

The Emergency Alert System is available to all students and faculty at ASU.

According to UPD, this system allows University Police and/or first responders to issue a message across campus.

The messages are supposed to go out by e-mail and text messages to all who have signed up.

However, some students have said they are not sure if they are receiving both.

Katey Buckley, a graduate student majoring in college student personnel services from Blytheville, said she thought it was a very helpful program during emergencies, but she hasn't been receiving the e-mails.

"I signed up for the alert system, or so I thought," Buckley said. "I receive the text messages, but not the e-mails that go along with them. I'm not even really sure how to get that fixed."

Heather O'Donnell, a junior advertising major from West Memphis, also said she had problems receiving the e-mails.

"The system is lacking because I don't get the messages even though I registered," O'Donnell said. "My roommate does but by the time she gets them we already know about the alert."

UPD officer Jarrod Long addressed these issues.

"We conduct a test once a month on the system to make sure that it is operational and that it works in a speedy fashion," Long said.

UPD also recommends that anyone having problems with their system should contact the IT department.

Zach Dunivan, a senior Wildlife Ecology and Management major from Senath, Mo asked why students are not automatically signed up for the alert system.

"Why not send the alerts via e-mail to the entire student body, not just to those who are registered, asked Dunivan. If the alerts are important or critical enough to let people know about; why punish the people who aren't signed up?"

Emergency Alert Systems, like the one at ASU, are supposed to be here to help students in the face of tragedies. According to EduCause Quarterly, emergency text messaging services were being considered before the Virginia Tech shooting and the move to adopt the systems were taken on with more urgency after the shooting, with the belief that they may have prevented the loss of lives.

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