Through the Looking Glass: Timely notifications should never be fashionably late
Two-day delay with informational e-mails does nothing to calm nerves, defeating the purpose and feeding the fear
By  Sarah Delia, staff writer
Posted on February 5, 2007

You may or may not know what a timely notification is — what with the numerous mass e-mails sent by the excessive amounts of a cappella groups on campus it’s likely that you saw yet another mass e-mail and quickly trashed it. Or simply, you could not be receiving these online documents that are supposed to be sent out to JMU faculty, students and staff for no apparent reason at all.

Sending out timely notification e-mails was mandated in accordance to the Campus Crime Statistic Act of 1998 in an attempt to inform the JMU community of any illegal and potentially dangerous activity reported to the police. These notifications essentially keep the public in check and remind us that the bubble effect created by the seemingly safe and secluded environment of college can be popped at any moment. The idea of being alerted to illegal activity going on in the JMU community is a great and important concept — however, this idea has yet to be placed into appropriate practice, as timely notifications are sent out sometimes days after the fact and not even to every member of the JMU community.

Merely supplying a brief, ambiguous e-mail is not enough to satisfy the students and community members who are fearful when they receive e-mails such as the one sent out Jan. 25. This particular e-mail recounted an instance when, two days prior, a female student had been allegedly abducted and raped in the area of Memorial Hall. This timely notification has been the only information released to the public and the media from JMU, making it impossible for any newspaper to report on behalf of the alleged victim or to alert the public. JMU’s Media Relations office described the ongoing investigation of the rape of Jan. 23, as one that posed “no potential threat to the JMU community,” and that if there had been a threat to the safety of JMU, then the Harrisonburg Police would be involved. Donald Egle, university spokesman, explained that when any instances are reported to the police, a timely notification is sent out to the masses, although some students are not getting them.

“The intent,” Egle says, “is for the e-mails to be received by all faculty, staff and students,” and went on to say that they are working with the tech support group on campus to find students not on the mailing list and place them on it.

Egle also stated that law enforcement representatives might have “good reasons for why the investigation is going the way it is.” But as a female student who lives within walking distance of Memorial Hall, I wonder what these good reasons could be.

If there is no potential threat to this community because either the victim made false claims or the abductor was taken into custody (neither of which Egle was able to confirm or deny), then why should this information not be shared with the public immediately so there is no unwarranted distress? Media Relations is urging the public to trust the JMU and Harrisonburg police, who are both committed to JMU’s safety — apparently the public’s right to know their community’s safety is not included in this commitment. It is also questionable as to why there was a 48-hour delay when sending out the “timely” notification. Media Relations has to wait for information and then assess the potential threat level. Evidently an alleged rape does not need the immediate notification of JMU students, but rather 48 hours after the fact is an appropriate time frame.

Speaking not as students or employees of JMU but as residents of Harrisonburg, we should not only be informed for the sake of our safety, but because it is our right — regardless of this tight-lipped sentiment spread throughout the university.

Sarah Delia is a sophomore English and art history major.