The Observer, September 28, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 5
Editorial: Use expensive technology as intended
On September 11, 2001, the world stood still.
At least, the part of the world that knew about the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
At Case Western Reserve University, a good number of students, professors, and staff went about their morning as if nothing had happened – because they hadn't been informed that anything had. Caught up in classes, research, and work, it took the campus several hours to learn about that morning's events.
It was for this reason that the Share the Vision committee set aside $60,000 for the plasma screen TVs now located all over campus. It was thought that the TVs would provide a means of communication should another national disaster or campus security breach occur.
In the next few weeks, USG will use the final $10,000 of the $60,000 grant to purchase five more TVs to be placed around campus.
Yet it remains a mystery when we will see the TVs used as was originally intended. Most of them are now used for campus-based advertising, if turned on at all, and are seldom watched by anyone. There are exceptions, of course – such as the TV in the basement of Weatherhead, which is always tuned to CNN – but the vast majority of the technology has not been put to good use.
First, what an incredible waste of $60,000. It may have been hard to foresee the popularity of text messaging and e-mail, but was it that hard? The Share the Vision committee should have spent time brainstorming a more cost-effective way to communicate in an emergency.
We've already bought the TVs, however, so we should at least attempt to use them according to the original plan. While it might be acceptable to use the TVs for other purposes when there are no major news stories, it was unacceptable that they were still being used for said purposes (or not being used at all) on April 16, when the Virginia Tech shooting occurred. Most of the time, they should be turned on and tuned to CNN or another network that can provide coverage of important world events. Even without sound or closed captioning, the headlines that appear on the screens will spur members of the community to check the Internet for more information.
VP of Student Life Myles Nickolich said that he "would like to redesign the entire system to better serve its original purpose." This change is vital, especially in case of a real campus emergency. According to Adam Rupe, the Special Security Task Force (established last spring after the incident at Virginia Tech) discussed during meetings this summer how the TVs could be used in case of a campus security breach. However, the report from the Security Task Force that was released at a recent Faculty Senate meeting says nothing about the TVs. While it's great that the Task Force is recommending that other measures – e-mail and text messaging, among others – be used for communication during a crisis, it should also recommend the use of technology that's already been purchased and installed.
