Universities Using Text Message Alerts In Crises

At University of Calgary, security administrators are also seeking ways to encourage students to take part, acknowledging that less than one third of the student body has signed on to be notified via cellphone in an emergency situation - a problem that is cropping up nationwide. "It's a bit of a challenge because it's a voluntary program," Lanny Fritz, security manager at the University of Calgary, who attributed student complacency to a feeling that they do not feel a threat of violence while on campus. North American universities and colleges, in the wake of the mass murder last spring at Virginia Tech, have been scrambling en masse to beef up their emergency planning, buying the text-messaging technology, outdoor speaker systems and electronic billboards so they can to notify students of an immediate danger. Text-messaging technology appears to be one of the popular options, mainly because it is relatively inexpensive, with the cheapest costing varieties costing about $2,500 to install. ... http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=0e07ac50-9fc4-4c36-b8a5-f98c8607e67e

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