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Campus gets cell phone alert system
Glendale Community College is one of a handful of schools in California to utilize a program like this.
By Angela Hokanson
GLENDALE — Cell phones have become the linchpin of a new emergency notification system at Glendale Community College.
The college is one of a handful in the state that recently started enrolling students in a program called AlertU, a service that instantly sends text messages to participants’ cell phones if an emergency transpires at their campus.
The colleges’ participation in the program is being funded by the California Community College chancellor’s office, and is a response to recent violent incidents on college campuses like the shootings at Virginia Tech, said Glendale College Police Chief Steven Wagg.
“It’s kind of new frontier in public safety,” Wagg said about systematic use of cell phones for emergency warnings.
Students, faculty and staff of Glendale Community College — as well as any interested community member — can subscribe to the service by entering their cell phone number on a newly created page on the Glendale Community College website. Subscribers then receive a text message asking them to confirm that they want to enroll in the service.
Text messages would be sent to the subscribers if events occur on campus that pose an “ongoing threat to public safety,” Wagg said. Such incidents could include fires, earthquakes or a gunman on campus, Wagg said.
The text messages would give people concise updates about what was happening, and would provide them with instructions on what actions to take to keep safe. The specifics of the messages would depend on the particulars of the ongoing incident, he said.
The beauty of the system is that individuals who participate receive the message just seconds after it is sent out over a computer, Wagg said. That instantaneous notification will help law enforcement personnel keep people out of harm’s way, he said.
“The idea is to get that information out as quick as possible,” he said.
The college mailed postcards to students letting them know about the notification service about a month ago, and notified faculty and staff about the program via e-mail. An icon on the college’s online home page also advertises the initiative.
Wagg estimated that between 1,000 and 3,000 people have enrolled in the college’s AlertU program so far.
“We’re still in the early stages of signing everybody up,” he said.
The system has the capacity to notify hundreds of thousands of subscribers, Wagg said, and he would like to see the whole campus sign up.
“We have basically unlimited capacity,” he said.
Student Geralynn Legaspi, 20, signed up for the service about a week ago, when she saw information about it on the college’s website.
“It’s a good idea,” she said. “It would be the easiest way to reach the students because everyone is always on their cell phones,” she said.
Patrick Cho, 19, hasn’t signed up for the service yet, but agreed that the concept was good because cell phones are so prevalent on campus.
“Eleven out of 10 people has a cell phone here,” he said.
The college put the text service to use last week when it experienced a power outage, Wagg said. The situation became a safety issue on campus because people were bypassing the yellow caution tape that had been placed over campus elevators during the power outage, and then were getting stuck in the elevators because of the power loss.
So, the college sent a text message to subscribers letting them know that there was a power outage and advising them not to use any elevators, Wagg said.
“We were concerned about people getting stuck in the elevators,” he said. The college is expected to receive the service free of charge for 10 years because the school volunteered to participate in the initial rollout of the service to California community colleges, Wagg said.
Subscribers don’t have to pay for the service, but may be charged for receiving the text messages depending on their cell phone plans.
To sign up for the service, visit: w www.glendale.edu/police/ emergencysms.htm.
ANGELA HOKANSON covers education. She may be reached at (818) 637-3238 or by e-mail at angelahokanson@latimes.com.
The college is one of a handful in the state that recently started enrolling students in a program called AlertU, a service that instantly sends text messages to participants’ cell phones if an emergency transpires at their campus.
The colleges’ participation in the program is being funded by the California Community College chancellor’s office, and is a response to recent violent incidents on college campuses like the shootings at Virginia Tech, said Glendale College Police Chief Steven Wagg.
“It’s kind of new frontier in public safety,” Wagg said about systematic use of cell phones for emergency warnings.
Students, faculty and staff of Glendale Community College — as well as any interested community member — can subscribe to the service by entering their cell phone number on a newly created page on the Glendale Community College website. Subscribers then receive a text message asking them to confirm that they want to enroll in the service.
Text messages would be sent to the subscribers if events occur on campus that pose an “ongoing threat to public safety,” Wagg said. Such incidents could include fires, earthquakes or a gunman on campus, Wagg said.
The text messages would give people concise updates about what was happening, and would provide them with instructions on what actions to take to keep safe. The specifics of the messages would depend on the particulars of the ongoing incident, he said.
The beauty of the system is that individuals who participate receive the message just seconds after it is sent out over a computer, Wagg said. That instantaneous notification will help law enforcement personnel keep people out of harm’s way, he said.
“The idea is to get that information out as quick as possible,” he said.
The college mailed postcards to students letting them know about the notification service about a month ago, and notified faculty and staff about the program via e-mail. An icon on the college’s online home page also advertises the initiative.
Wagg estimated that between 1,000 and 3,000 people have enrolled in the college’s AlertU program so far.
“We’re still in the early stages of signing everybody up,” he said.
The system has the capacity to notify hundreds of thousands of subscribers, Wagg said, and he would like to see the whole campus sign up.
“We have basically unlimited capacity,” he said.
Student Geralynn Legaspi, 20, signed up for the service about a week ago, when she saw information about it on the college’s website.
“It’s a good idea,” she said. “It would be the easiest way to reach the students because everyone is always on their cell phones,” she said.
Patrick Cho, 19, hasn’t signed up for the service yet, but agreed that the concept was good because cell phones are so prevalent on campus.
“Eleven out of 10 people has a cell phone here,” he said.
The college put the text service to use last week when it experienced a power outage, Wagg said. The situation became a safety issue on campus because people were bypassing the yellow caution tape that had been placed over campus elevators during the power outage, and then were getting stuck in the elevators because of the power loss.
So, the college sent a text message to subscribers letting them know that there was a power outage and advising them not to use any elevators, Wagg said.
“We were concerned about people getting stuck in the elevators,” he said. The college is expected to receive the service free of charge for 10 years because the school volunteered to participate in the initial rollout of the service to California community colleges, Wagg said.
Subscribers don’t have to pay for the service, but may be charged for receiving the text messages depending on their cell phone plans.
To sign up for the service, visit: w www.glendale.edu/police/ emergencysms.htm.
ANGELA HOKANSON covers education. She may be reached at (818) 637-3238 or by e-mail at angelahokanson@latimes.com.
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