In the aftermath of Thursday’s shootings at Northern Illinois University, emergency notification systems on college campuses are being re-scrutinized. Administrators and students, though, said they were generally reassured by NU’s new alert system.

Northwestern’s emergency notification system sends information to students through e-mail, text messaging and a phone call. All undergraduates were required to register with the system prior to registering for Winter Quarter classes, while graduate and professional students are required to register by next Monday, Feb. 25.

Alan Cubbage, vice president of university relations, was a member of an emergency operations planning group that convened in late 2005 to reassess Northwestern’s emergency response plan.

“It is impossible to prevent something like this,” Cubbage said. “But I think we are well-prepared and it is something that the university has placed a great deal of emphasis and resources on proving our ability to respond over the past couple years. “

In terms of NU’s emergency notification system, Cubbage said that no further modifications will be made in light of the NIU shootings. The system’s first notifications occurred on Feb. 6, when classes were canceled due to inclement weather.

“It worked incredibly well,” Cubbage said, citing the fact that within 30 minutes, 96 percent of registered students had received a notification, many within as little as five minutes. “As soon as I hit ‘send’ on my computer, people’s text messages started appearing.”

While the NIU system did include text messaging, messages were not received until nine hours after the incident and only 7,700 of the 28,000 students, faculty and staff at NIU are registered with the system, according to the Chicago Tribune.

“When we did that test a couple days ago, I received a text message, a phone call, like a message and an email all within 15 minutes,” said Medill freshman Bette Marston. “I feel much more comfortable with that system in place.”

For some, the NIU shootings popped the comforting Northwestern bubble.

“It makes you think twice about a lot of things,” said Gerard Morris, a first-year doctoral student in the music program. “You always think you’re safe and then all of a sudden something happens, no matter where it’s at, you feel much less protected.”

Students said the emergency notification system provides a feeling of safety, and are content with the knowledge that they can be reached at all times, especially considering that NU students are rarely without their cell phones.

“I don’t feel any less safe now than I did before,” said Communication freshman James Graham. “These things happen. They’re the cause of a particular damaged individual, so I think the school does well to keep us safe. I continue to respect their system.”

Weinberg junior Ryan Erickson is also a fan of the system.

“It’s very hard sometimes to look at these things objectively, especially so soon after they happen, but that’s the kind of thing where it’s very hard to know anything you could do to prevent something like that,” Erickson said. “The emergency notification system is about the best system we can get, so I feel pretty good about it.”

Students shouldn’t just sit around waiting for a text message, though, Cubbage said.

“An important part of any system is relying on the good sense of our students. Campus security is a shared responsibility,” Cubbage said. “Northwestern has really put a lot of emphasis in increased security on our campus, particularly in our res[idential] halls, but I think it’s dependent on the students being alert and helpful.”

Erickson said that it’s important for students to look out for their friends and make sure they get help if they need it.

While the current system is working for now, Northwestern has no plans to become complacent.

“It’s not something that you work with and are done like a term paper,” Cubbage said. “It’s something you’re always working on.”