Not Everyone Safe@UCA
UCAPD's Safe@UCA program has fewer than 3,700 subscribers, a troubling statistic on a campus that already has experienced a fatal shooting.
"Safe @ UCA"
The program provides students, faculty and staff with text alerts, telephone calls and email notifications if there is an emergency on campus. The university spent thousands of dollars improving the notification system after the October 2008 fatal shooting of two students on campus. However, the system requires students to register their contact information with UCAPD.
Lt. Rhonda Swindle, public information officer at the department, said she doesn't know what more can be done to get students to sign up. The department has given out magnets advertising Safe@UCA and put instructions for registering for the service on MyUCA.
"I've pushed it," she said. "I'm open for suggestions. I can't think of anything that would be more beneficial than what we're doing right now."
Students have been registering since the semester began but three-fourths of the campus isn't in the system, Swindle said.
The Safe@UCA program also is responsible for the new sirens that have been placed around campus.
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I think the title is a bit misleading. It does not follow that because one is not a participant in the Safe@UCA that a person is necessarily unsafe. Similarly, I am uncertain as to what extent we can claim that because one is a participant that they are, in fact, safe. It may be that I am simply more inclined to know more about the events surrounding UCA, which the knowledge of those events would exist independently to the degree that I am safe.
Perhaps a more pressing matter would be give a statistically significant analysis that showed a correlation between a person's 'safeness' and their participation in the program, or how other campuses strive to improve the quality of life surrounding a campus in relation to safety.
As a student who is not currently registered to the program, I don't feel like I'm at any disadvantage in regards to "safety." In fact, even on the night of the shooting last year, I did not feel unsafe. Crimes and tragedies are going to imminently going to happen, no matter where you are in the world. When the shooting occurred last year, I would wager that probably 50% of the campus was aware of it within 10 minutes of the incident. In all actuality, my mother called me asking me about it, before I had any idea what had happened. I think it's a poorly advertised program, in general. I believe that the 'thousands of dollars' being spent on an alert system could more appropriately be directed to filling in the potholes or doing something about our parking issues. Or, heaven forbid, perhaps we could get the landscaping of the new business building completed in a timely fashion.
It's not to say that the issue of safety shouldn't be stressed. I hate to break the news to the people behind this campaign, but sending students text messages (often multiple messages, no doubt) at 3:00AM won't make them any more safe. Personal safety is what should be stressed. How about some more streetlights in the corners of our campus? How about we light up the crosswalks on Bruce Street, or at least replace the dingy orange bulbs of the streetlights with bulbs that might allow night drivers to actually see pedestrians?
But...I digress.
Perhaps if UCAPD offered a gold star or smiley face sticker to those who joined the program, 'd be more inclined to do so.
Yes, I agree. It is important to consider that UCA's alert program has to contend against the communication giants of Twitter, Facebook, texting, phone calls, and well-established networks of friends and family that participate in each.
In light of these resources, what added benefit does UCA's program offer?