Jessica Jacobs doesn’t care so much about thunderstorm warnings, but she would like to know if there’s a shooter in the building.

Jacobs, a graduate student from Murphysboro studying English, signed up for the SIUC emergency text message system believing that she would receive notifications in the event of extreme danger on campus.

But Jacobs said warnings about thunderstorms that happened an hour earlier offer her little assurance about the system’s effectiveness at times when urgency is crucial.

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Todd Sigler, director of SIUC Police, said the system has not been perfect, but he is confident that it helps to inform students of man-made and natural threats.

“There have been instances of some delays with the text messages,” Sigler said.

But he said Inspiron Logistics Corporation, the company the university uses to implement the system, has done a great job troubleshooting problems. Sigler added that monthly tests have been successful.

Enrollment for the text message alert system opened March 3.

Mike Ruiz, director of University Communications, said a team of individuals from telecommunications, information technology and SIUC Police meets regularly to discuss new strategies for communicating in an emergency. The university already uses e-mail messages and its Web site along with the text messages.

No one should rely on one form of messaging to communicate in an emergency, Ruiz said.

“I know that text messaging is very popular with a lot of people right now and obviously that’s why we’re putting a lot of effort and resources into that, but that’s not infallible,” he said.

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To help build interest in the text message system, Sigler said he informs parents of prospective students about the service at student orientations.

Ruiz said the team cut back on the reasons for using the emergency service, saying people would be less likely to take the messages seriously if they received a text for every thunderstorm.

“One thing you don’t want to have happen is they get into SIUC and it starts to become some kind of normal event,” he said. “We want to get people’s attention.”

Jeff Engelhardt contributed to this report.

Allison Petty can be reached at

536-3311 ext. 254 or

[email protected].