UW-P text plan born of tragedy

Monday, August 25, 2008 8:24 PM CDT

Learning from tragedy is harder than it sounds.

Whenever a large-scale disaster occurs, we in the media demand that leaders learn from it. That way, they can either prevent it altogether or at least respond better.

Trouble is, as time passes, those leaders often get distracted by other pressing issues or lose the will to leap through the necessary hoops. If nothing changes, the event is doubly tragic.

So the University of Wisconsin-Parkside deserves a pat on the back for implementing a system to notify students of emergencies via text message. Most likely the system will be used more for severe weather, but the stamp of the Virginia Tech massacre is clearly visible.

Virginia Tech officials were roundly blasted for their lethargic response after a student began his shooting rampage last year. A committee appointed by Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine determined more prompt warnings could have saved lives.

The lesson clearly reached southeastern Wisconsin. Parkside is in the process of testing various notification tools.

Those include standbys like e-mail and phone alerts, but maybe the most promising is the text message capability. Constantly in motion, college students can be tough to reach on short notice in more traditional ways. It helps that 7 in 10 on U.S. campuses are proficient texters.

Because of privacy concerns, students will have to join the system voluntarily. It appears they’re able to see beyond the couple of dimes they might be charged to receive those texts. Nearly 10,000 students and affiliated staff members have already registered for a similar service at UW-Madison.

It has become a big priority throughout higher education. Fully 70 percent of officials surveyed by Campus Safety magazine said they’re boosting efforts to spread the word on emergencies.

By working to provide the warning system this semester, Parkside is well ahead of the federal government. A Federal Communications Commission plan to issue texts with terrorism alerts, Amber alerts and other national emergencies won’t be online until at least 2010.

By the time they unpack at their dorm rooms, university students are considered legal adults responsible for their own well-being. To make the right choices, they deserve the same information available in administrative offices.

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