The recent bomb threats at LSU and the University of Texas has the attention of the University of Arkansas.
School administrators are reminding students about their emergency alert called RazALERT just in case the unexpected happens at the campus.
The system can send an emergency message to everyone on campus in a matter of minutes through text messaging, phone messages and email.
If UA police receive a tip about a bomb scare or some other threat on campus, the university has a plan in place.
“Depending on the information the officers will respond to that scene and if an evacuation is called for then that word will go and we’ll start evacuating campus,” said Lt. Gary Crain, University of Arkansas Police.
RazALERT sends a short message sending basic information to about 30,000 people connect.
The University Police conducted a test of the RazALERT system Tuesday morning. If you did not receive a message, or did not receive it fast enough, it is time to change your RazALERT settings.
“So basically, you enter the data that you want to go out, select who you want it to go to everybody or a part of the campus and then you hit the button and send it,” Crain said.
Sophmore Leah Misenheiner, who’s studying Biology, said she thinks the system is great.
“I love it. I think it’s really effective. We actually got a test this week to make sure it was all working,” Misenheiner said.
Senior Allie Pipkin, studying Biology, said she likes the fact the system is quick.
“Everybody has their phone right there, so if you don’t look at your phone right away, someone will,” Pipkin said.
Crain said thinking ahead is important in case danger strikes the university.
“There has to be a method of getting that word out to everyone when the campus is spread out over several hundreds of acres and hundreds of building electronically is the quickest and best way to do that,” Crain said.
The University of Arkansas Police website – uapd.uark.edu/emergency or on the university emergency website at emergency.uark.edu.
Text messages are necessarily short and often only contain basic information. Anyone receiving a RazALERT text can find more details on their voice or email messages – or by going to the university emergency website.
If you need help signing up phones for text or voice mail messages you can find it at razalert.uark.edu/.
