OPINION Advance-Titan
A7
Nicole Horner - Opinon Editor
February 23, 2017
Kind is the new cute by Hailey Lawrence lawreh56@uwosh.edu Hailey Lawrence is a sophomore journalism and international studies major. Her views do not necessarily represent those of the Advance-Titan.
Cartoon by Constance Bougie
Titan Alerts need to get sent out to UWO campus sooner by the Advance-Titan Staff atitan@uwosh.edu If a dangerous incident takes place in the UW Oshkosh area, Titan Alerts are an easy way to keep people informed about the situation. Severe weather warnings, campus emergencies and safety concerns such as robberies or assaults can reach the attention of students, faculty and staff through email or text. This system alerts the campus of the incident and give details about the situation. It can also ensure the UWO community the campus police either have the situation under control or are working to ensure they get to the bottom of the issue in order to maintain a safe atmosphere within the community. The Titan Alerts system is productive because it keeps the UWO community both aware and safe, but there needs to be a way to make the alerts more effective so the campus can be informed sooner. However, when incidents that lead to Titan Alerts take place, oftentimes the alerts are not sent out as quickly as some students think they should be. This semester a few Titan Alerts have centered around situations such as robberies and armed attacks, but for the most part the alerts did not get sent out until hours or even days after the incidents had occurred. A recent incident, which involved a 30-year-old intoxicated Oshkosh man with a handgun transpired in the early hours of Sunday, Feb.
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11 at 12:39 a.m.; a Titan Alert Captain Chris Tarmann said was not sent out to students the UWO community beneand faculty until many hours fits from itan Alerts in a variety of ways. later at 10:52 a.m. “We believe our commuSimilarly, a Titan Alert was delivered at 12:14 p.m. on nity members will watch for Monday, Feb. 20 regarding an and share helpful informaarmed robbery near the UWO tion, which will ultimately campus where two males help us solve those situations were robbed and assaulted, quickly,” Tarmann said. “We leading to the arrest of two believe that an informed adult males and two juvenile community is a safer commufemales. The robbery was nity.” It is important for Titan reported the night before the Titan Alert was sent, on Sun- Alerts to be sent out in a timely manner, especially day, Feb. 19 at 9:07 p.m. Other times, Titan Alerts when the alerts center around do not inform the public of emergencies. With the rate of how long events for several days. A Titan Alert sent out on it currently takes students Monday, Feb. 20 described to receive Titan Alerts, it is unlikely we two on-camwould hear pus thefts about an acfrom vehicles Students can’t take tual emerin UWO park- necessary precautions to on ing lots. The protect themselves if they gency campus, such thefts were get the information too as a school reported three shooting or a days earlier on late. bombing, unFriday, Feb. — Bella Lombardi til hours after 17. UWO sophomore it had finished When burStudents deglaries began to take place in South Scott serve to know what is hapHall, a Titan Alert was only pening on campus, especially sent out on Feb. 15, after an when it involves their safety. UWO sophomore Bella investigation was already active. The day after the alert, Lombardi said the speed of an arrest was made. An up- Titan Alerts is a problem that date to the Titan Alert said the should be changed, especialUniversity Police was able to ly if the included information make an arrest because of the is already gathered. “If there’s a danger or a cooperation and assistance of threat and you don’t know the UWO community. If a Titan Alert had been is- about it, then you won’t be sued sooner and the campus able to prepare yourself,” community had the neces- Lombardi said. “Students sary information to assist in can’t take necessary precauthe investigation, the arrest tions to protect themselves if might have been made earli- they get the information too er, leading to the occurrence late.” The amount of time necesof fewer burglaries. UWO Police Department sary for gathering the right
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information for Titan Alerts can be lengthy. When these alerts come late, they often serve as follow-up information rather than alerting the campus about what is currently happening. The information Titan Alerts provide to the UWO community plays a significant role in campus safety. However, since the alerts usually take a while to get sent out, by the time the information reaches students, the situation is already resolved and the information is virtually useless in helping students stay aware of what is going on around them or helping them stay safe. The University should still take the time to get necessary information and fact check, but should not wait too long after acquiring the information to get an alert out. Tarmann said the content individual Titan Alerts center around is what dictates whether or not an alert is issued. “We make the decision to send these alerts based on the information we have in the moment,” Tarmann said. “If there’s a serious incident that poses a significant threat to our community, but the police respond and apprehend the suspect right away, then an emergency notification may not be sent but we may follow-up with a timely warning.” It is understandable that it takes time for information to be gathered and facts to be checked, but it is still important to keep the campus community aware much sooner in order to maintain safety for all students, faculty and staff.
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Trends go in and out of style fairly quickly. One minute galaxy leggings were the biggest craze and now it seems like you cannot go down the street without seeing at least one girl wearing a choker around her neck. Having a toned body is the new skinny body. White Chuck Taylors and Adidas Superstars are making a comeback. I could go on forever about trends that are always coming and going, but that gets repetitive. We talk about fashion trends and beauty trends but we often overlook trends that are really worth catching onto. You will always have those classic looks that will never go out of style, a lot like red lipstick, but the ultimate classic look is how you treat others. K ind is the new cute. This commentary came to me when I was scrolling through Facebook and an old video showed up captioned “I wish more girls were like this.” The video wasn’t that extravagant. It was a girl going through the drive-thru at Taco Bell and she complimented the cashier and the cashier was abbergasted that someone complimented her. Most of us are taught from a young age that we have to treat others how we want to be treated. Being nice is not that hard. Telling a girl her shoes look cute is not the hardest thing to do. Saying “thank you” to the guy who makes you coffee in the
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morning is not hard, either. It is not hard to compliment someone. Being nice is almost rejected by some. Surprisingly, I see this way too often. I see too many girls ridicule other girls just to make themselves feel superior or better about themselves. Recently, I’ve seen teenage girls on Twitter subtweet other girls and insult them in every way possible. It is truly disgusting. Calling a girl a derogatory term will not make you look cute, smart or better than anyone. It just shows how nasty of a personality you have. Insulting people is a trend that isn’t appealing whatsoever, and yet, unfortunately it is a trend that has caught on. Especially with the spread of social media, this kind of nastiness is spread all over. It takes more effort to hate than it does to be kind. I’ll tell you what will show that you are a great person: say thank you. Tell a girl who wears lipstick on a Monday morning it looks nice on her. Enhance your life so other people can reect your attitude cannot think of any examples of how insulting someone will make you look better. Maya Angelou once said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I try to live by that saying every day, from the moment I wake up and grab my morning coffee to going out of my way to make sure I do something to brighten someone else’s. It can be the littlest thing but it will make the biggest difference. That is a trend worth following. Try to go that extra mile to change someone’s day. Put extra change in the parking meter so the next person won’t have to pay that much. Smile at passersby. Hold the door open for someone. Treat others how you want to be treated. In a world that likes to show the bad more than the good, make an effort to be the change you want to see. It all is about perspective. K indness will never go out of style.
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