What I thought about at Meeting yesterday.Posted on April 20, 2009 by QuakerDave
http://www.quakeragitator.wordpress.com/.../
The tragic shootings at Columbine High School and Virginia Polytechnic Institute have brought to the forefront the need for rapid, mass communication on college campuses. (see links for more information on Columbine and Virginia Tech. Warning: These videos may disturb some viewers): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7uEpHFhDS4&feature=email%20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OwK34ZD1TY&feature=email
College administrators need to be able to quickly communicate with faculty, students and employees in emergency circumstances (severe weather, fire, campus intruder or other emergency). During the Virginia Tech shootings, the university attempted to notify campus members about the ongoing emergency via campus email, the latest technology available at the time to communicate with large groups on campus.
A timeline pictured on Liveleak, shows that it took nearly two and a half hours after the shootings began at Virginia Tech for the university to attempt to notify the campus community about the impending danger.
http://cdnll-5.liveleak.com/s/8/media8/2007/Apr/17/LiveLeak-dot-com-43323-virginiatechshootingtimeline.jpg?h=c74deffe12ec169a7fec6663e13a822b&e=1248554435&rs=150
Where there is a need, technology responds. College campuses everywhere realized they needed a more rapid method of notifying the campus community of emergencies. According to PEW Internet and American Life Project, “nearly 90% of Americans age 18 to 29 years old own a cell phone” . Rave Mobile Safety corporation provides cell phone alerting systems to universities across the United States. In simple terms, students who wish to participate, provide a user profile and cell phone number to campus security. During a campus emergency, university security can contact and locate students via the cell phone’s GPS system. The use of cell phone technology allows the university to immediately contact campus personnel for security purposes. “In addition to responding faster to emergency situations, this service also allows students to request “electronic escorts.” Students can call a second preprogrammed number and record a message informing security that they are walking from the library to their residence hall, for example. The students set a timer and if they do not call back before the time has expired, security will call the cell phone number to check that the student is safe. If there is no verification, security will respond to the incident.” http://www.ravewireless.com/products/ravealert/beforeafter
The newest technology systems are looking not only to provide outgoing messages from the university to students and staff , but are also looking to provide inbound information from individuals requesting emergency help. Future upgrades may allow participants to add medical history (allergies, diabetic or epileptic) to their profile for use in case of emergency. This service may also be used to follow students anywhere off campus where they have a GPS signal.
Bucks County Community College has a cell phone notification system in place. The system of course is only available to students who chose to enroll. Members may enroll on the college website. http://www.e2campus.com/my/bucks/signup.htm
Consider enrolling today to safeguard your college experience.
This article was extremely interesting and extremely easy to relate to considering how Bucks County Community College has set up a service like this. I guess that I never really thought about signing up for the service but I'll defiantly consider it now. This just shows how technology has really become so prevalent in our everyday lives. Sometimes I think people take it for granted, technology really has a ton to offer us if we use it correctly. It still to this day amazes me how people can think to use technology. Then to actually put it into a practical and usable form, that is really an art for in and of itself.
ReplyDeleteIt is extremely interesting to see a post about this. I know that Bucks County Community College offers a service similar to this one but I never knew that it really could save peoples lives. It is always interesting to see what piece of technology people can come up with next. It is basically an art form to turn someones idea into a practical and usable form such as this one. I found the link that you gave me extremely useful and will defiantly be signing up for the program that BCCC offers. I found it interesting that they used two pieces of technology too make this one piece possible. They combine GPS and Cellphones into one to make this possible.
ReplyDeletewhen it comes to cases like this, the cell phone is more important than ever. I agree with you Andrew, and George for posting this. I am signed up for this program at BCCC, it is really good, makes you feel like you're safe when you attend school.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that this ever had to happen and take 2 ½ hours to get the message out, that is just devastating. It’s such a shame that this kind of thing has to happen before security resources are made available. It surprises me that teachers and students never had any further precautions in such situations. I would think it’d be possible to with increased planning and strategy, but who knows. The fact that 90 % students have cell phones ensures a reliable way to contact students and in such discreet ways it’s very thoughtful. I have never felt in danger at Bucks, but I should indefinitely look into this before going away to school this fall.
ReplyDeletePrograms such as these are amazing accomplishments with safety among college students. Its just a shame that tragedy's have to occur in order for these kind of prevention programs to be created.
ReplyDeleteIf i leave the house without my cellphone i am always paranoid that that would be the day my car breaks down, or worse.Just having a cell phone helps me feel safer and more in control.