Weekly for March 9: Safety and security office should get a twitter

Home Opinion Weekly for March 9: Safety and security office should get a twitter
Weekly for March 9: Safety and security office should get a twitter
Mason Clutter works in security and talks into the radio. Madeleine Barry / Collegian.

As wind gusts of up to 60 mph blew across campus Tuesday, trees and power lines fell, closing roads around campus.
For circumstances like this, Hillsdale College’s Safety and Security Office should tweet out updates, so students, faculty, and staff can stay up-to-date on extreme weather and traffic.
Many other campuses use Twitter for their security departments. During an attack on Ohio State University in November, social media alerts and emergency messages put out a warning to the campus and continued to keep it informed.
Hillsdale does have an emergency messaging system that can send texts, emails, and phone calls to students and their emergency contacts, faculty, staff, and emergency personnel. But the college needs a way to send less critical messages to campus.
On Tuesday, security could have tweeted that a fallen power line was blocking College Street near the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house to help those traveling to and from campus.
This week, with the Center for Constructive Alternatives seminar happening, more visitors are on campus, reducing the number of parking spaces. With a Twitter account, security could advise students to leave extra time to find parking, reducing the stress of driving all around campus to find free space minutes before class.
Last week, Director of Campus Security and Emergency Management William Whorley sent a four-word email to students about the National Weather Service issuing a tornado warning for Hillsdale County and telling students to take cover. It seemed unnecessary to send such a short email when many were already getting phone alerts.
In a circumstance like that, a tweet would notify students, providing an easy way for students to quickly contact security if they had questions.
Twitter also allows students to subscribe to an account and get notifications when that account tweets. That way, students won’t miss any news.
Plus, with security sitting on the outskirts of campus, a Twitter account would give it the opportunity to interact more with campus and serve the Hillsdale community even better than before.