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The Miami
Vol. 87, Issue 22 | Nov. 12 - Nov. 15, 2009
HURRICANE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI IN CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA, SINCE 1929
Call Waiting... UMPD fails to send emergency alerts BY CHRISTINA DE NICOLA AND RAMON GALIANA OF THE STAFF
Many students at the University of Miami were left clueless as to why the campus was flooded with flashing red and blue lights on Tuesday night. The only action by the university came in the form of a lockdown at the Coral Gables campus at approximately 11 p.m. This response was in reaction to an armed robbery that occurred at the 5200 block of Ponce de Leon Boulevard between the Serpentine parking lot and the Metrorail. Students around the entrances of on-campus buildings were forced to take shelter until the UM Police Department declared that the situation was clear. However, the Emergency Notification Network (ENN) designed to alert the university population of dangerous situations on campus never sent out a message. Few in the community were aware that the suspects were still at large in the vicinity. UMPD Chief David Rivero released a statement to the university Wednesday afternoon. “Immediately following the incident, university and Coral Gables Police actively patrolled the campus, but upon further review, it has been determined that the university should have activated the Emergency Notification Network immediately to alert the campus community of a potential threat, followed by an ‘all clear’ notification once we were certain the potential threat no longer existed,” he wrote. “The University is continuously reviewing and improving its safety and emergency response plans and will use this opportunity to ensure we respond appropriately in the future.” UMPD declined to answer questions directly from The Miami Hurricane. Instead, Rivero responded to an e-mail with questions that were accepted through the university’s media relations department. “We issued the statement to clarify to students what took place during the course of last night’s incident,” he said in response to why UMPD failed to send out an alert as the incident was unfolding. “As you know Coral Gables Police Department has an active investigation on this matter. Our statement in-
Still frame from video by Ramon Galiana
LEFT IN THE DARK: Students in the Stanford lobby search for information on their cell phones and computers to find out why the university was on lockdown mode. UMPD failed to notify the community. cludes all the information that we can release at this time.” It is still not clear why the university’s failure to activate the ENN would be part of a criminal investigation. The following paraphrased questions were posed by The Miami Hurricane to Rivero: We received several reports that students entered and exited the Otto G. Richter Library during the lockdown. Should this have been the case? Who is responsible for posting ENN alerts? Is there any way that the university community can be notified in a timely manner if another dangerous situation occurs on or near campus? Is there anything you would like to clarify that you think we should be aware of ? Student Government President Lionel Moise addressed many student concerns at a roundtable hosted by Vice President for Student Affairs Patricia Whitely on Wednesday.
SEE ROBBERY, PAGE 4
BUILDING ACROSS BORDERS ENGINEERS TRAVEL ABROAD TO DESIGN FOR DEVELOPING NATIONS PAGE 3
ASK JONATHAN! DANCE MARATHON RAISES MONEY FOR MIAMI CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL PAGE 5
GET YOUR VEGGIE ON COCONUT GROVE FARMERS MARKET OFFERS ORGANIC CHOICES PAGE 9
DIGGIN’ THE DEFENSE FRESHMAN DEFENSIVE END OLIVIER VERNON MEANS BUSINESS PAGE 13