This year students will hear a change to Syracuse University’s emergency notification system, Orange Alert. The Department of Public Safety (DPS) recently added a siren alarm to complement e-mail and text message alerts in an effort to audibly warn the SU community about crises around campus. The siren, which consists of eight-second blasts over a two-minute cycle, will alert people of a potential emergency that DPS feels is a threat to the university and security that is already protecting the community. DPS also plans to alert campus-area neighbors through e-mail in a program called ‘SU Cares.’ ‘This [program] will provide non-university folks with information about university events,’ Callisto said. When the alarm is set off, people are advised to go indoors and check for text messages or e-mail for more information, said DPS Chief Tony Callisto. The alarm will add more security for those without their cell phones or not currently registered with Orange Alert, a problem SU has seen in prior Orange Alert tests, Callisto said. The sirens are located at the Shaffer Art Building and a pole behind Skyhall 1 on South Campus. Callisto said that despite the small amount of alarms, the length of the cycle will give everyone time to seek shelter.

There will be tests of the system every Saturday at 1 p.m. to ensure that the sirens are working properly. In addition to the weekly tests, DPS will test the entire Orange Alert system once each semester. E-mails will be sent out a week in advance of these tests. ‘Our goal is to maintain safety on our campus,’ Callisto said. ‘In a crisis situation, we want information to get out.’ A siren system has been considered since the university started developing Orange Alert in 1996. After the shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007, DPS felt the need to increase campus security, Callisto said. ‘It was obvious that this crisis could happen anywhere in the country,’ he said. Other colleges and universities have installed siren systems after the Virginia Tech crisis. Brown (R.I.) University and the University of Pennsylvania installed similar alarms in 2007 and 2009, respectively. Universities in the Midwest and in the South are also familiar with these alarms. Due to the high amounts of tornado and storm activity, weather alarms are in place at the University of Kansas and the University of Georgia.

smtracey@syr.edu