Senior economics major

UMD Alerts, for those who are signed up, is a great way to stay informed about important occurrences on the campus. On late weekend nights, it serves as a beacon of warning for those traveling alone, letting us know where, if anywhere, crime is happening.

Working closely with Prince George’s County Police, University Police have done a fantastic job maintaining their track record of being one of the most reliable and quickest news sources with regard to pertinent university affairs.

After the April 15 attacks at the Boston Marathon, some may have noticed a few UMD Alerts that may have seemed slightly out of the ordinary. There were messages reporting K-9 training sessions in South Campus Commons and Bomb Squad training in Stamp Student Union. Although these measures were obviously preventative given the recent happenings, the alerts did well by ensuring students’ lives weren’t disturbed in any material fashion.

Those who tried to put in a few hours at McKeldin Library on Wednesday may have found a few hurdles in their way, which included a blaring fire alarm, fire trucks, a police blockade and at least one K-9 bomb detection team sweeping the building.

A suspicious comment made by an individual prompted library staff to contact authorities at about 3 p.m., which resulted in the library being shut down. The Diamondback did a fine job covering the story as quickly as possible online, but those who missed it were left very much confused. I found myself in this cohort as rumors began to spread about what happened.

Initially, the group I was with concluded there must have been a fire, but not too long after, we heard rumors of a bomb threat. My friends then began to call other friends and found out most people had no idea what was happening.

During the five-hour affair, the university’s informational email and text system had not produced one bit of information. It was not until 9:30 p.m., an hour and a half after the library reopened, that the email from “UMD Info” reached my inbox.

At this point, almost everyone I was with had spoken to their parents about what we could gather about the event and the message was irrelevant. The message explained the situation and said no UMD Alert had been issued because there was “no credible threat to the safety of the community” and had one been verified, we would have been notified.

I found this to be at best a reasonable explanation, but it seems to me that the criteria for what qualifies for an alert ought to be re-evaluated or at least clarified internally. Recently, I received two emails from UMD Alerts about a traffic jam, which hardly seems to qualify as a “credible threat to the safety of the community,” but I was notified regardless.

The UMD Alert system did the campus community a great disservice by being so untimely. By notifying us so late, it created unnecessary angst through rumor-mongering. We often depend on in emergency situations and were let down.

Will Dyess is a junior economics major. He can be reached at dyess00@gmail.com.