Issue date: 2/19/09 Section: News

In order to protect students and staff from a campus attack, campus and city police, along with staff, will be participating in a campus shooter drill in Buzzard Hall on Feb. 20 beginning at 7 a.m. (Erin Matheny/The Daily Eastern News)

Students should be made aware that emergency sirens, text-alert systems and web-based e-mail alerts are reserved for real emergencies while the active shooter-drill is taking place from 7 a.m. to noon Friday in Buzzard Hall.

"It is important that there be no confusion in case a real emergency occurs," said Dan Nadler, vice president for student affairs. "We want to keep these methods of communication open for the use with which they are intended."

Nadler said if sirens, e-mail and text message alerts are employed then a "real threat is imminent" and students, faculty and staff should act accordingly.

President Bill Perry said students should be reminded about the emergency response booklets on every entrance.

The drill, which is designated to take place in the Buzzard auditorium area, second-floor balcony and parts of the hallways adjacent to the auditorium area, will utilize the University Police Department, Health Service and the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union as well.

Doors around the auditorium will be closed and locked to any access and other doors will be specified by posted signs for entrance to Buzzard.

Classes in Buzzard and overall campus security should not be dramatically affected by the drill.

"Classrooms and offices on the north side of the building will be minimally affected; occupants could expect to hear some unusual noises," said Vicki Shaw-Woodard, coordinator of public information.

There are 12 classes scheduled in Buzzard on the morning of the drill.

Friday was chosen because it is traditionally the day the least number of classes are scheduled, Shaw-Woodard said.

"The University Police Department will have officers assigned to participate in the drill, (but) additional officers will continue to patrol the campus as usual," she said.

The Charleston Fire and Police Departments, Eastern's Emergency Management Team and representatives from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency will also participate in the drill.

More details about the drill are being kept confidential by administration to "make the drill as real as possible," Nadler said. He explained that knowing every detail of how safety experts handle an active shooter could be detrimental to the effectiveness of the plan. Non-participants will not be allowed to observe the drill, he added.

The drill is a training exercise that is mandated by state law that was integrated Jan. 1, which requires Illinois colleges and universities to stage one emergency drill a year.

The overall cost of the drill is unspecified at this time, but will be divided between manpower, in relation to overtime pay, and material costs.


Krystal Moya can be reached at 581-7942 or at ksmoya1@eiu.edu.



Sign up for emergency text alerts

Less than one-third of Eastern's total student and faculty population have signed up to receive Alert EIU, a text messaging alert system implemented in March 2008.

Currently, only 4,465 individuals have registered.

Alert EIU is available to all students with text-messaging plans at standard rates. The system is designed to alert subscribers, via their cell phones, to emergency situations on campus.

The administration urges students to sign up for the service for easier access to emergency messages.


Here is how to sign up:

1. Go to www.eiu.edu.

2. Click on the hyperlink to register for Alert EIU specified under "Where can I register for Alert EIU?" (Questions and suggestions as to why a student should register are also on this page.)

3. Have E-number and cell phone number ready.

4. Enter them in the designated fields.

5. An automatic text will be sent to confirm the registration.

Students can stop text alerts through direct text-messaging instructions that are defined on every text or by returning to the sign-up page and clicking "Stop Messages."

Number errors can also be reported on the same page.

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