While text messaging could help, there is no simple solution, Zerzan said.
"I spend a lot of time analyzing what happened at Virginia Tech. If you could go back in time and ensure that everybody had two or three sentences, what would the message be? And would it save lives?"
Telling people to evacuate could expose them to trouble, he said.
Having people shelter in place could be beneficial for most but leave others as sitting ducks, Zerzan said.
Simmons said relying on one method of communication might not be the answer.
"We are communicating in so many different ways," he said.
The university already can send e-mails to every student's OSU-issued address - and students have the option of bouncing those to certain handheld devices.
OSU also is working on scrolling a message across every university computer screen.
"I think it would be awesome because everybody has a phone," said Larisa Benson, 22, of Salem. "Someone who doesn't have one, it's like, 'Ohmigod, they're weird.'"
Information from: Gazette-Times, http://www.gtconnect.com© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
