Silent Alarm: redux

Someone brought a loaded gun to my little brother’s high school yesterday
morning. The event was resolved without incident, but it scares me just enough
to make me worry about our own campus safety systems.

VCU needs an emergency system that works.

Yesterday at noon a test of the emergency alert system took place. A crowd of
people gathered outside Shafer Court Dining Center, right in front of some news
cameras. No one moved indoors like they were supposed to. While the sirens
succeeded in being loud and attracting attention, the text-messaging system failed
to work properly.

Many cell phones either failed to receive messages or received them 30 minutes
after the sirens shut off. Some VCU students had problems signing up for the
text messages, because their confirmation codes didn’t work.

John Bennett, senior vice president for finance and administration, sent an
e-mail about the test Tuesday. “The test is distinguishable from the first-Monday-
of-the-month checks of the siren system that consist of 15-second bursts,
and from other short bursts of the sirens that might occur occasionally during
maintenance of the system,” the e-mail states.

Even if these new siren checks do occur every first Monday, if someone were
to plan something like the Virginia Tech shootings at VCU, wouldn’t that be
the best time to do it? Everyone is expecting the alarm to go off anyway. It just
seems like the perfect scenario for a gunman to let loose on the populace. Such
a strategy would shock the system – since it would need time to adjust – and
would cause a lot of confusion and possibly a high number of casualties.

In all of my research into how the system works, I have yet to discover how it
would react to different scenarios. If there were a bomb threat, would it be wrong
to set off the sirens, because that would send people into buildings instead of out
of them? For a system used to distribute information and help clarify emergency
scenarios, it sure seems confusing.

This is my proposal: The text-messaging system needs to be changed so students
can get their alerts in real time. For tests, there should be no prescribed time or
date, and text-message alerts should be
sent out just before the alarm goes off.
An intercom system should be hooked up
to every classroom and VCU building so
specific instructions can be given relative
to the specific emergency.

For every accidental trigger or “short
burst,” texts should be issued to the
students to keep them informed. That
is the purpose of this system: to inform
people.

To educate everyone about what to
do when the alarm system goes off,
there should be a team of people that
goes around to every classroom and
explains what to do in the case of a real
emergency. I realize this means students
will have to hear the same five-minute
speech five or six times, but it will drill
the point home.

—

Instead of sounding like a fire
truck, what should the alert siren
be changed to?

A. An ice-cream truck jingle

B. “Let’s Misbehave,” the old Cole
Porter tune

C. A turkey warble

D. Dave Chappelle shouting, “I’m
Rick James, b-tch!”

E. “Crank That” by Soulja Boy

Send votes to opinion@common
wealthtimes.com