Text message received from UCI’s text alert system
I just got these messages on my cellphone from UCI’s text alert system, just like everyone else enrolled at or otherwise affiliated with the university.
January 20th 2008, 20:48
6:30PM ARMED ROBBERY IN 4069 MESA CT 2 MALE ASIAN SUSPECTS 18-20 5’7’’ TO 5’9’’ W/BANDANAS, 1 W/BLK HANDGUN, FLED SCENE W/DUFFLE BAG STAY INSIDE LOCK DOORS
January 20th 2008, 23:37
*zotAlert* Update on armed robbery – no signs of suspects on campus, but appr. safety measures should be taken. If you have any info call UCIPD at 949-824-5223
I am sure this alert system, in principal, has many potential benefits, and I do not mean to negate the violence suffered by the victims of this particular incident and the hypothetical threat it posed to other community members. Still, these messages got me thinking whether we are indeed focusing our attention and resources on the right things, when we are letting our fears guide us.
The question is not, as some conservative critics may respond, whether or not the fear of assaults on campus, or other fears – of terrorism, of child abduction or of sex offenders – are well-founded. These risks, like many others, are not merely constructs, but are real threats, and our fear of them can be very functional to protect us from harm.
