Welcome

Last Friday I was a somewhat overcast day no rain but just sort of gloomy. At about noon I hear this loud siren coming from the direction of campus. I would have had no idea what this was except for the fact that my mom went to Missouri so she had told me about tornado sirens. I guessed that is what that was.

At this point I was very concerned and immediately went online to the weather channel to figure out where the tornados were. I was considering grabbing my laptop and hiding in the basement of my building. I didn't see anything about a tornado in the area or even a tornado warning online so I wasn't sure what to do.

I asked another student last week about it and he said that they test the tornado sirens every Friday at noon. Apparently when you hear these you should go to the basement of the closest building.

Not being from the Midwest tornado sirens are a completely foreign concept. We do have tornados in Florida but we don't have tornado sirens on campus and with hurricanes you know those are coming at you in advance.

I just heard them again not too long ago so that reminded me.

I wonder how many students know we have a night escort service. No not that kind of escort but I am sure you can find that in B-ton also.

Following up on my little rant about IU Parking. I sent an e-mail to the Office of Women's Affairs seeking a solution and they gave me the number for the walking escorts.

"Safety Escort Department
Phone: (812) 855-SAFE
Web: www.indiana.edu/~cps/escort.html

The IU Student Association provides safe evening transportation for women and men who would otherwise be walking alone. A walking escort is available for women only, but van service is available for both women and men."

That would have been helpful to know earlier. Thanks to Matt hopefully I won't have to use this service that often but it is nice to know it is there.