There was a veritable buzz about campus Tuesday.
Perhaps literally, as most everyone’s phone went off with a text from Carolina Alert, USC’s communication system for local crime, inclement weather and otherwise compromising events that we need to be made aware of. This time, the message was about an attempted kidnapping.
Shortly after the first message, we got an update: no suspect found, yet. Hours later, and we’re informed that the crime alert has been canceled after the student in question confessed to lying; there was no attempted kidnapping after all.
Carolina Alert is a valuable medium through which students can be notified of immediately pressing matters. It’s been slow in the past, sometimes reporting crimes a day late, but yesterday, it showed potential as it effectively communicated a situation that could have been far more dire had it been a real threat.
It’s not perfect, though, and we have some suggestions.
One major change we’d like is including the essential information in the text message, so we don’t have to follow a link to get the critical details. When we’re dealing with information regarding direct threats to campus, accessibility is key.
Another is its timeliness. We understand that campus officials want to make sure they have their facts straight and that police work takes time, but perhaps a shift should be made towards erring on the side of caution, alerting us of crimes before every detail is nailed down. Of course, we don’t want to be spammed with alerts, so a healthy balance must be found.
Speaking of spam, we don’t think most notifications regarding weather are necessary. Unless it’s a tornado, we can weather the storm.
Carolina Alert is a necessary tool that benefits the student body greatly, but one that can be improved upon.
Its managers should be more upfront about what the system can realistically convey to students: when it can get information together, and what it will let us know about.
We — and many other students — have often been frustrated to learn about incidents like indecent exposures and armed robberies hours after the fact. Tuesday showed improvements in the system, but it’s not quite perfect yet.