Oh, cause that's a good plan

[lyore]

From anu_students

In light of the recent local storm and the Virginia Tech shootings, the ANU has set up a "Campus Emergency Mobile Phone Number" option in ISIS so that if there is another campus emergency here at ANU, students and staff can be readily contacted and warned of the danger.

So please enter an emergency contact number in your ANUBIS account at the first available opportunity! The numbers will remain entirely confidential unless such an emergency arises, in which case they will be used to contact you to inform you of the situation.

Thanks!

Right. So, in case of Evil Gunmen, the uni is going to personally and individually call EVERY SINGLE STUDENT (and presumably postgrads, academics and lecturers as well, unless they don't care about them). All 3000 of them. Do they think this might take a little bit longer than they actually have, in that situation? And what if people don't answer, because, by some random and cruel twist of fate, that was the day they actually remembered to turn off their phone in a lecture? And in what order? Alphabetically? Of course, it's ANU, so I'm tempted to say they'd call the full-fee paying students first...

Perhaps they plan on asking the Evil Gunman to just wait patiently until they've finished?

Actually, that wouldn't surprise me. Student admin has always held the opinion that students have nothing better to do than wait for the on the convenience of the admin staff, regardless of murderous intentions and/or urgent academic requirements.

(Of course, this is off an LJ report. I can't really be bothered to check if this is true or not, although it would be simple if you had access to ISIS. I just feel like snark. ETA: As psuedoskribe points out, this is a lot less stupid if they are using an SMS system. But I still feel like snarking about it.)

In other news - thank god I get tomorrow off. I am so completely wiped right now, a fact I am now putting down to the lingering effects of the Cold From Hell. I feel like I've had the energy just sucked right out of me. So I am going to watch Doctor Who, post some squee (hopefully) for amethyste5, and go to bed.

Comments

[psuedoskribe.livejournal.com]

It's true, I got the email today. Funnily enough, I just assumed they had a program set up to automate the sms-ing process (sms, not call); it didn't even cross my mind that they might have to sit staff down and txt 3000+ uni-related personnel. It's unfeasible, they must have an auto-electronic means of doing it. Sort of like a program you open and select your "ML" (in this case Emergency Line), type msg, "OMG GUNMEN HOLDING UP STUDENT ADMIN, BE CALM! JUST BE CALM." and send. Poof! Thousands now informed.

At least, if it were my program that's how I would design it.

[lyore.livejournal.com]

I didn't even think of SMS-ing. You're right, it would work much better, but I'm still not convinced that this is the best way to notify everyone, in the case of an on-campus emergency. The again, I can't think of anything better of the top of my head, so perhaps it is.

Besides, if there was a Gunman holding up Student Admin, don't you think that half the campus would turn up to watch?

[redbyrd-sgfic.livejournal.com]

I think it's official, I'm the last person in the free world who isn't umbilically attached to a cellphone.

But honestly? If you're trying to reach students in transit- some form of automated messaging has to be the only way.

Of course you can use the old fashioned PA on campus, "THIS IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT. GUNMEN ARE MENACING THE CAFETERIA, PROBABLY IN REVENGE AFTER HAVING EATEN THERE. PLEASE REMAIN WHERE YOU ARE, THE SWAT TEAM IS SNEAKING UP ON THEM EVEN AS WE SPEAK."

[lyore.livejournal.com]

"THIS IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT. GUNMEN ARE MENACING THE CAFETERIA, PROBABLY IN REVENGE AFTER HAVING EATEN THERE. PLEASE REMAIN WHERE YOU ARE, THE SWAT TEAM IS SNEAKING UP ON THEM EVEN AS WE SPEAK."

I like it. After all we need to assure the students the situation is being dealt with :)

Cellphones - well, I have one, I occasionally check it, and sometimes I answer it. I have a tendency not to hear it go off, so chances are I'd get the message a few hours later anyway.

[carmarthen.livejournal.com]

Well, it's a bit better than "Here, let's send out an email!" which is what they did at VT and what my undergrad said they'd do (happily, my undergrad is also 5 minutes from the downtown police station). But I've been thinking about it and especially on a large campus, I'm really not sure there's any good way to reach everyone, short of installing an emergency campus-wide PA system. Which is prohibitively expensive for most schools, I think.

[lyore.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree. Once I got over my fit of snark, I could see that this is probably that bad a system, although I doubt that the uni has got the proper policies and business rules in place for its use.

Ironically, given the part of the uni I used to hang around in, an email would probably reach just as many - every second room is a computer labs, and they are always packed. This might not be the case over in the humanities/law side of the uni. (There's a creek running through our uni - sciences and engineering are on one side, and everything else is on the other. There were many comments about the Dark Side *g*)

Although really, you don't need to reach everyone - I'm sure there is some sort of critical mass of students that need to be informed, but then the knowledge will spread by itself, I think.

[amethyste5.livejournal.com]

You should work where I do, the big bosses have come to the consensus that simply having people licensed to carry and use concealed handguns would've fixed the problem real quick. (And I think I agree! Horrors! I agree with the bosses!)

I wish I'd caught this in time, no need to hurry on my account, just get your rest!

[lyore.livejournal.com]

I think I agree! Horrors! I agree with the bosses

I don't, but I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. Although - at least I don't agree with the bosses! :)

Oh, no worries - I was tired, but not really in the mood to go to bed.