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Following the recent gunman incident at the University of Texas, officials at WTAMU want students to know that they would be notified immediately if a similar event were to ever occur locally.

It was Sept. 28, when a UT student opened fire in the library. Students there were immediately notified of the deadly situation through text messages, e-mails, websites and public address systems.

Similarly, WT has a campus-wide alert system, Buff Alert. In the event of an emergency, Buff Alert gives WT officials the ability to communicate health and safety messages quickly via e-mail and text messages. Additionally, information can also be sent to personalized websites such as Google, AOL and Yahoo. It can also quickly send information to any RSS reader.

“It makes me feel safer,” said Dani Morton, a junior broadcasting major. “It’s good to know that we will be alerted if something were to happen.”

This emergency notification system is powered by e2Campus. This company, which is the leading Unified Mass Emergency Notification System, handles mass notifications all throughout the country. It has the ability to send mass notifications in seconds in the case of a crisis. Those seconds can save lives.

Nearly every computer on the WT campus also has the notification system on it. Officials say their goal is to be able to inform as many people as possible through the most outlets.

Only time sensitive safety and health messages will ever be sent to students, the website says. No spam or unimportant information should ever go through the system. It is reserved for time sensitive information that is imperative for students to know.

The service is free, unless a person does not have text messaging in his or her plan. In that case, the mobile carrier may be charged a nominal fee.

The case of the gunman at UT is now being looked at as a case study. Students were quickly notified of the incident and because of that, it potentially helped to save lives. Universities all across the country now have mass notification systems in case an emergency event were to ever happen.

It is because of incidents like the shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007 that prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to mandate that campus law enforcement agencies should have more defined roles to coordinate communication across campuses.

Students may have received a test message from Buff Alert just last week. Occasionally, the system will be tested to ensure prompt delivery.

To sign up for Buff Alert or to make sure of membership, visit the Buff Alert web site.