Common sense dictates that when threatened, we must react as we see fit to avoid imminent harm. [Thursday’s] bomb threat highlights that the NIU emergency response mechanisms are still inadequate. Of paramount importance in an emergency situation like this is the prompt and adequate dissemination of information concerning the safety and welfare of each member of the NIU community.

One way to improve our campus safety is a text-messaging service like that at other schools in the state, such as UIUC [University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]. NIU needs to follow our sister schools and implement a text-messaging alert system to inform us of these dangers as they occur, not after it is too late to react.

Thankfully, to my knowledge that as of the time I write this letter, no one was seriously injured. So, very unfortunately, we all know that horrible, unexplainable things can happen in the world. Sometimes there is no way for us to anticipate these harms. However, I would have appreciated knowing that [Thursday’s] emergency situation existed as soon as it was posted to the NIU home page. I am unable to check the homepage as easily as I can check a text message.

I imagine I am not alone in this opinion. A text message to each of us who choose to subscribe to such a service would have allowed me to assess this potentially dangerous situation and exercise my common sense. As soon as I was alerted via a text message from a friend, I decided that it was not prudent for me to stay on campus. It would have been better for the NIU community to receive official, immediate notification of this threat from an NIU-sponsored text message. This message would allow each of us to exercise our own judgment and react to the situation as we see fit.


Sara Stephenson
Law student

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