Good warning

College is that unique place in our society where we get to wean ourselves off of our parents, strike out on our own and move toward independence. But that stage of life is also a time when it's easy to forget we're not invincible. And it certainly doesn't enter most of our minds that there are actually miscreants out there who are looking to prey upon students.

Last week, with the sexual assault of one student and the assault of three others in their off-campus homes, someone invaded our bubble. Someone reminded us that although we number in the thousands, we have vulnerabilities. Our late-night schedules and our lack of experience in an urban environment are just a few worth mentioning.

Robberies have unfortunately become a fact of life in College Park, especially as students have proliferated into downtown housing. The sex crime was shocking for its brazenness, but it was a wake-up call, too. The university realized this, and deserves praise for its reaction. Friday, the day after the incidents, about 50 students, faculty and parents met with District 1 Commander Maj. Kevin Davis and other law enforcement officials in the Colony Ballroom of the Stamp Student Union, freely voicing opinions and posing questions to those charged with our defense. Monday afternoon, the Student Union hosted a public safety forum, where students gathered and tossed about their fears, hopes and solutions. Pardon the cliché, but the best defense is a good offense - an informed individual - and the best way to ensure individuals take the right actions is to establish direct community dialogue, where ideas are shared and incorrect perceptions are corrected - by both community members and knowledgeable authorities. That the university recognized the value of such intimate response is commendable, and such discussions should continue and become protocol for future incidents.

However, there was a nagging absence from the university's response: the campus's text-message alert system. In the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre, perhaps the most visceral wake-up call to college safety in American history, the campus established a text-message alert system to quickly inform students of dangerous happenings. The incident occurred Thursday night, when thousands of students were watching or celebrating the West Virginia game, far from their computers and out of the reach of e-mail crime alerts. While University Police have become more adept at issuing crime alerts in a timely, consistent manner, a more opportune time to use the text-messaging system than last Thursday can hardly be imagined. We must ask: If not now, when?