New security alert system being released too soon

Editorial Board/FIUSM Staff 

As students, we have been told that, by the end of November, FIU would be launching a “new and improved” alert system that would help keep members of the University informed of on-campus emergencies.

As previously reported by The Beacon, the new emergency alert system will “allow for the integration of the separate communication platforms to allow for a more efficient, faster and automated activation,” according to Amy Aiken, director of the Department of Emergency Management.

We were told that the testing period for the new emergency system would take two weeks and would officially launch soon after.

It is now Nov. 27, the end of the testing period, and we are still very much concerned this new emergency alert system is not quite ready to be launched.

Our reasoning behind this is due to a recent alert that was sent out saying “All clear, all clear,” although no one knew exactly what this was referring to. This, of course, created mass confusion throughout the campuses until FIU’s Twitter account sent out the following message: “@FIU: Panthers, we apologize for the most recent alert. It was sent in error while testing the system. Everything is fine and there was no danger.”

Granted, this error occured during the two week testing period. However, the problem with this is that we are now entering the final week of November.

There should have been a warning of some kind sent out to the University that this test was going to be taking place at this time as not to cause the panic that it did.

That could’ve at least curbed the frustration that people had when they received a text, email, Facebook post, and tweet with an “All clear, all clear.”

In all, we hope that the new emergency alert system will have all its bugs sorted out by the time students return from their Thanksgiving break.

opinion@fiusm.com 

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