AU Alert used to quell rumor mill

By Amy Weaver

Published: March 5, 2008

Auburn University officials say they did not activate the campus’ emergency notification system, AU Alert, the morning after freshman Lauren A. Burk was shot and killed because they did not believe there was an “immediate threat” to the campus community.

“AU Alert is set up to notify those registered in the event there is an incident that is an immediate threat to safety and requires immediate action on their part,” said Mike Clardy, manager of news and web services for OCM. “Based on the information we had at the time, it didn’t cross that threshold. There was no immediate threat.”

But by late Wednesday afternoon, Auburn University officials did use the emergency notification message system to send an informational update to dispel rumors spreading across campus.

About 4 p.m., officials issued the message through AU Alert to thousands of cell and land-line phones and e-mail addresses.

Deedie Dowdle, executive director of the Office of Communication and Marketing, said, by the end of the day,  using AU Alert was all the university could do to stop the spread of false information that began after word got out that Burk was shot late Tuesday night off campus, and her car later found fully engulfed in flames on campus.

“We didn’t want parents and students to think there was a shooter on campus,” Dowdle said. “We also wanted them to know the rumors are untrue.”

Although the president’s office and OCM were inundated with phone calls Wednesday morning from parents and students begging for information, university officials opted to withhold any sort of release until an official statement was issued by the police.

An e-mail went out to students through “This Week @ AU” about noon Wednesday, explaining what the Auburn Police Division had gathered in its investigation.

For some students, it was better late than never. For others, it was too little, too late.

“I’m glad they sent something, but I wish it was sooner,” said senior Kylee Patrick. “I’d rather they said something sooner, even if it was incomplete.”

Sophomore LaDaria Hartley said she thought all the talk on campus Wednesday morning was a joke.

“Stuff like that just don’t happen on campus,” she said. “Auburn is so small.”

But without anything from AU Alert, she didn’t know what to believe.

“I had heard five versions of the same story,” Hartley said. “This (e-mail) was better than nothing.”

Clardy said they continued to use “This Week @ AU” Wednesday as a means to reach students. After updates were sent through the e-mail system, he said they were posted on the university’s main Web page.

Senior Krystal Lockett said she was worried all morning until she saw the e-mail.

“If I hadn’t read that (from the e-mail), I would have been thinking all sorts of crazy things,” she said.

Junior Lanita Wright was disturbed to learn that Burk’s 2001 black Honda Civic was found in the band parking lot between the Hill residence halls and Hinton Field. Wright is a residence hall adviser in one of the halls on the Hill.

“Of course it’s a tragedy,” she said. “It kind of makes you second guess yourself about being on campus, but I feel like they are doing everything they can.”

Assistant Chief Tommy Dawson said there was no threat to campus, but he increased the police presence on campus Wednesday as a precaution.

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