AU ALERT inactive during shooting

Tragedy is an apt word to describe the event that occurred late Saturday evening.

Three men lost their lives, and three others were injured as the result of the actions of an "armed and extremely dangerous man." Certainly no one is denying that, but surprisingly the University did not feel the need to alert the campus community of his potential presence in the area.

Any one browsing their Twitter and Facebook feeds late Saturday night knew that something bad had happened. We did not know the severity or all of the details, but we did know something despicable and dangerous occurred in a student community within close proximity to campus.

Bottom line, AU ALERT should have been activated.

Let me be clear in saying that I am not asking for AU ALERT to provide me with minute-by-minute updates of the ongoing situation. That's why I follow news organizations and own a television. However, I do expect to be notified that there might be an "armed and extremely dangerous" individual in the vicinity of campus and the surrounding community.

What if I was not awake late at night to log onto Facebook or Twitter? Should the University's argument be that they had no confirmed details and information was not official?

My response to that is, "So what?"

The system has had no problem alerting us hours after the fact that severe weather that has passed through. So, why should a potential clear and present danger of an "armed and extremely dangerous man" be any different?

Granted, it probably isn't the best move for the University's public relations department to openly broadcast the events of Saturday night. Camp War Eagle is in full swing, new students and their parents are being introduced to the town and Auburn's campus, many for the first time, and I am sure there are plenty of other reasons the University would rather not talk about such things.

This is the loveliest village on The Plains, and things like this just don't happen in Auburn.

Well, tragedy did happen, and by failing to alert those who signed up for the service, the University failed those who rely on its service. It is time to reevaluate this system.

Is AU ALERT only here to let its subscribers know when there is going to be bad weather? Or is the system supposed to alert us of danger, like one would think?

Torey Palmer

Higher Education

Administration