For the roughly 34,000 students at USC, both undergraduate and graduate, the university does a great job in implementing systems and resources to enhance student safety. A common concern for students is their safety and preparedness in emergency situations. Students want to be able to ensure the safety of themselves as well as others, but many students don’t know about or use the resources USC advocates to help keep the community safe.
The first of these systems that most students are familiar with is the Carolina Alert. With the Carolina Alert system, students are given the ability to receive news in events such as emergencies, weather-related incidents and even school closure notifications. Once enrolled as a student, the Carolina Alert system is required — all students must be registered to receive updates.
Another valuable system in place at USC is the emergency callboxes stationed around campus, connecting students to the USC police department. However, with all these protective measures provided, most students do not generally take the time to really consider the possibilities of utilizing these resources. It is common to classify these measures under usage in extreme situations only, and neglect thinking of other scenarios in which they can be used.
For example, many students may be unprepared in handling medical situations that could occur, or have something occur to them with no one else around. With that in mind, the emergency callboxes become an easily accessible resource. It is because of such scenarios that students need to see the potential of the resources offered, and not focus on only using them if extreme possibilities arise.
Speaking of potential for the resources offered, it is important to note, as most students have already heard, the Rave Guardian app. With this app, it is possible to set safety timers that notify friends when one is walking back at night and it sends an alert if the timers are not turned off within the window one specified. The app has other features that would be beneficial to the community if more students utilized it, such as notifying safety officials about ongoing situations. Rave Guardian also allows its users to send these messages to safety officials through text, making it a wonderful resource for students.
These resources are frequently promoted, but it seems like students rarely use or download them. I believe these resources offered by USC should be kept at hand in case of an emergency. It is quite easy to believe that “these things will never happen to me,” but the reality is a contingency plan should always be on hand. Students should know the extent of the systems in place for their own safety, as well as the knowledge of how to use it. Finally, students should know that these systems are not always for extreme situations, but can be used when situations such as medical urgencies present themselves.
USC does a great job of making the campus safe and as students we should know the resources at our disposal and aid our community in using them.