OSU considering mass text-messaging system

By KYLE ODEGARD

Gazette-Times reporter

Oregon State University security officials are considering how to prevent mass shootings such as Thursday's rampage at Northern Illinois University. A 27-year-old gunman killed five students and wounded 16 others before killing himself.

OSU is among those in the Oregon University System that are considering the merits of a mass text-messaging system. It could be in place next school year to warn students, primarily via their cell phones, about emergencies such as violence, earthquakes or even snowstorms.

But don't expect campus security officers to carry guns - at least, not without a fight from the OUS.

Last week, state Rep. Linda Flores, a Republican from Clackamas, proposed legislation that would give those personnel the ability to carry firearms.

Di Saunders, spokeswoman for the OUS, said such legislation would essentially mandate creating police stations for each campus, which would cost more than $2 million a year in training, equipment, salary and other costs. Liability is another concern.

"With all of the really important issues we are trying to deal with in the system, such as trying to get more students into college and through college … this is not something we want to build," she said.

Kirby Dyess, president of the Oregon Board of Higher Education, recently said that arming campus security wasn't part of the mission of the system. Students also are leery of the idea, Saunders said.

At OSU, the proposal is moot. In addition to regular campus security officers, the Oregon State Police maintains an office at Cascades Hall on campus, and state troopers carry side arms. OSU is the only university in the state system with such an arrangement, although the University of Oregon contracts with the Eugene Police Department for campus security, meaning an armed presence is available quickly there as well.

A similar proposal was before the Legislature in its last session, but it died in the Senate. Oregon University System officials suggested the best alternative was for campus security to work in close cooperation with state and local police.

OSU is cooperating with Western, Eastern and Southern Oregon universities, as well as Oregon Institute of Technology in considering an emergency text-messaging system, said Todd Simmons, the assistant vice president of university advancement.

"We've interviewed about 15 companies so far. … We think it's important to choose the right one," he said. The trick is ensuring that a message gets to 25,000 students, faculty and staff throughout the state in a timely manner.

Any system also would need to simultaneously alert personnel and students at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, the Cascades Campus in Bend and extension offices, located at most of Oregon's 36 counties. "That makes it very complex for us," Simmons said.

Students at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany can sign up to receive e-mails and text messages via the FlashAlert system. Such sign-ups may increase in the wake of the recent arrest of a student who told a friend online that he'd bought a rifle and was trying to think of a way to bring it to campus. He also said that he admired the gunmen involved in the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.

Authorities arrested him Feb. 1 on a charge of attempted unlawful use of a weapon after seizing the rifle from his residence and interviewing people who knew him. He remained at the Benton County Jail on Friday evening in lieu of $500,000 bail.

FlashAlert has its good and bad points, said Marlene Propst, director of college advancement for LBCC.

"It's actually been tested a couple of times with weather issues," she said. She added that though the system was relatively inexpensive, there were spam problems.

Simmons said OSU might need a more complicated system, so it can send different messages at once. For instance, one student might be saved by sheltering inside a building, while another during the same emergency might be in a structure with a danger.

Using multiple methods of letting students know of emergencies - including old-fashioned speakers to announce situations - probably is the best solution, Saunders said.

Kyle Odegard covers Oregon State University. He can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.