Why That Annoying, Blaring Message Board Just Might Save Your Life

So I'm sure you've been sitting in class and you've heard it - that high pitched, louder-than-the-voice-of-God automated speech from Public Safety that goes, "This is a test. If this was an actual emergency..." and then it goes off, mercifully. You return to your class, your daydreaming, your Web surfing, glad to not have to be bothered by it again, but, Heaven forbid, two minutes later, there it is again! High-pitched noise, green flashing lights, and that creepy humanoid voice: "This is only a test..."

Then on Tuesday night, I was alone in a Mac lab in the Loop, and a different message started blaring - about how it was "now safe to return to the building." Did I miss a bomb threat? A mass evacuation? I had no idea.

Frustrated, I decided to go to Public Safety and find out what all the fuss was about.

What is it? It's the new DePaul safety message board system. It's purpose is to evacuate DePaul quickly and safely if a major event ever happens, like a bomb threat, an active shooter on campus, or a fire. In the case of a fire, the system message would actually be louder than the fire alarm - going right along with my "voice of God" analogy. It can also be used in case of severe weather, to alert the university community. It was implemented in the spring quarter of last year, and the first test was this fall. It will be tested one week every quarter - four days in the Loop and two days in Lincoln Park, with afternoon and evenings tests so that the maximum of the university is reached. There are also speakers in the dorm hallways, in every building DePaul owns and operates, in the quad and the parking lots, and in all atletic facilities, including Wish Field. The system is expandable, too, so if DePaul buys more property, the system can go in place there as well.

"You can't assume it's going to work - you have to test it," says Bob Wachowski. "If you don't test it, and then something happens, people will get angry, asking us 'Why didn't you test?' " Wachowski says that the main complaint about issues is that people were not notified, like in the Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University shootings. Our message system, Wachowski says, is the best way to make sure everyone is notified.