Few students have opted for text alerts
"I thought that it was a nice integration of security into student life," she said.
"I thought, 'Why not?'" said Ravy Vajravlu, a senior biomolecular engineering major.
"I signed up because if something were to happen, it would be important to know if there was a dangerous situation."
University of Maryland, Baltimore, which uses a similar system, has also suffered low registration rates.
Despite a combined student body of over 5,000, UMB has a little over 1000 students registered with the program, according Robert Rowan, assistant vice president for facilities management and head of the UMB's Emergency Management Team.
"We suspect [students do not sign up] because they already feel safe and think registration is unnecessary," he said.
"Also, they do not want any more spam going to their phones."
UMB has taken steps to promote awareness, including coordinating with their student council and addressing it at orientation.
"Unless there is a major incident, we suspect registration might go as high as 20 percent but not much higher," Rowan said.
"My cousin is a freshman at a school in New York where they had a gun incident," Ned McCague, a senior English major who signed up with the program, said.
"That was definitely a contributing factor to my registration."
Signing up for the system is voluntary. Skrodzki said the University cannot require students who own cell phones to pay the cost that their cellular service providers charge to receive a text message, and therefore cannot make registration mandatory.
"We also cannot require students to own cell phones," he said.
"We discussed making [signing up] mandatory but have not agreed on an enforcement method," Boswell said.
Rowan said UMB also elected to make the system voluntary because of the potential cost of receiving text messages, and because a number of students do not have access to text capable phones.
"The cost of text messages isn't a big deal," Kirkpatrick said.
"Everyone I know my age is on a text messaging plan."
"I don't know if I get charged," Vajravlu said. "I'm not really worried about that."
To him, the only reasons students would not register with the system are because they are unaware or do not feel like making the effort.
"I find hard to believe that people would be opposed to it," he said. "It can't be a question of money. I know many students who text message."
The JHEA system allows Safety and Security to rapidly transmit a short text message to wireless telephone devices in the event of a major emergency.
This message will alert students to the existence of the emergency, provide them with brief information they need to know immediately and direct them to other University resources for more information and instructions.
There are currently 1,709 students who have registered, according to Skrodzki.
"I thought, 'Why not?'" said Ravy Vajravlu, a senior biomolecular engineering major.
"I signed up because if something were to happen, it would be important to know if there was a dangerous situation."
University of Maryland, Baltimore, which uses a similar system, has also suffered low registration rates.
Despite a combined student body of over 5,000, UMB has a little over 1000 students registered with the program, according Robert Rowan, assistant vice president for facilities management and head of the UMB's Emergency Management Team.
"We suspect [students do not sign up] because they already feel safe and think registration is unnecessary," he said.
"Also, they do not want any more spam going to their phones."
UMB has taken steps to promote awareness, including coordinating with their student council and addressing it at orientation.
"Unless there is a major incident, we suspect registration might go as high as 20 percent but not much higher," Rowan said.
"My cousin is a freshman at a school in New York where they had a gun incident," Ned McCague, a senior English major who signed up with the program, said.
"That was definitely a contributing factor to my registration."
Signing up for the system is voluntary. Skrodzki said the University cannot require students who own cell phones to pay the cost that their cellular service providers charge to receive a text message, and therefore cannot make registration mandatory.
"We also cannot require students to own cell phones," he said.
"We discussed making [signing up] mandatory but have not agreed on an enforcement method," Boswell said.
Rowan said UMB also elected to make the system voluntary because of the potential cost of receiving text messages, and because a number of students do not have access to text capable phones.
"The cost of text messages isn't a big deal," Kirkpatrick said.
"Everyone I know my age is on a text messaging plan."
"I don't know if I get charged," Vajravlu said. "I'm not really worried about that."
To him, the only reasons students would not register with the system are because they are unaware or do not feel like making the effort.
"I find hard to believe that people would be opposed to it," he said. "It can't be a question of money. I know many students who text message."
The JHEA system allows Safety and Security to rapidly transmit a short text message to wireless telephone devices in the event of a major emergency.
This message will alert students to the existence of the emergency, provide them with brief information they need to know immediately and direct them to other University resources for more information and instructions.
There are currently 1,709 students who have registered, according to Skrodzki.
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