Editorial | The more, the merrier

In any emergency, fast communication between officials and the public proves absolutely crucial.

The University's Department of Public Safety worked last year to instate UPennAlert, designed to alert students and faculty of any crisis situation through e-mail and text messages. Others on campus without cell phones or continuous access to e-mail accounts, though, remained out of the loop.

Now, with the announcement of a new audible-alert system on campus, DPS can ensure that more people will receive important emergency messages.

Still, the whole Penn community doesn't spend all its time on campus.

DPS plans to install the speakers for the audible-alert system in the area from 33rd to 40th Streets, typically thought of as the limits of Penn's campus. But according to Penn's Office of Off-Campus Living, approximately one-fourth to one-fifth of Penn students live off campus in West Philadelphia.

The area immediately adjacent to 40th Street is full of students and staff members.

With this in mind, DPS should consider installing speakers farther west, by expanding the coverage area all the way to 42nd Street.

The measure could potentially save lives, as it would alert anyone near the Penn campus to avoid the area if there were a crisis.

With so many students coming to class from neighborhoods several blocks west of campus, it's only logical - and possibly vital - that the audible-alert system reach out to them as well.

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