In regards to Ms. Meyerson's letter Wednesday about poor police response to the bomb threat, I agree that perhaps more information could have been made immediately available through emergency channels. But it should also be said that students, staff, and faculty need to use common sense when it comes to fire alarms and announcements to evacuate. The first priority of the police and other emergency responders should be to get people out of the building, with specific information about "why" as a lesser priority.
Knowing it was a bomb or an armed assailant won't do you any good if you stuck around and got blown up or shot while checking your e-mail or Facebook account to see what was happening.
When the fire alarm sounds, it would benefit you to get out ASAP instead of checking your e-mail to see if it is just a drill. The probability is high that the next fire alarm you hear will be a drill or false alarm, but are you willing to gamble your life on it? What is the winning payout compared to the possible losses?
Mark Ou
UF staff and alumnus
Message system should have been used
Months ago, UF required me to provide my cell phone number with the promise of notifying me if my life was in danger. On Tuesday, many students, including myself, were evacuated from Florida Gym into the pouring rain with absolutely no reason given. My classmates and I had a hard time believing they would conduct a drill in such a storm, and we assumed that anything serious would elicit a message from the university.
Needless to say, upon finding out on UF's Web site hours later that it had actually been a bomb threat, I was quite upset. What is the point of having a university-wide emergency notification system if they don't actually let us know about threats?
