<p>This thing is unsettling me. I have short listed UPitt Honors College Pre-Med focus (with Scholarship, an OOS) as one of the final 3 schools. But these blanket security thing will make student life difficult, as the current students’ finals and other exams are getting messed up. I am not sure how efficiently this will be addressed quickly. I don’t want my studies affect any way. I have a week to decide.</p>
<p>This photo is a popular one on the “We Support the Pitt Police” FB group. The started of the group has contacted the police a few times to thank them, and has also been contacted by police members and their family to thank the students/members for their support.</p>
<p>Njcave, no one could have predicted this. Likewise, there is no way to predict what will happen at any other school in the coming years. My daughter had a prof die her freshman year and a friend at home die her sophomore year. Those events were disruptive. They were beyond anyone’s control. </p>
<p>This news hit CNN today for the first time I have seen. My hope is that it doesn’t spread more widely, and I wonder whether threats like these are not widely publicized. I, too, hope they catch the guy soon.</p>
<p>Today’s threats included University Club which for most people just seems to be a building where parent events or trustee type meetings might be held - I know parents had a dinner there during PittStart - but that building also houses Family House - like a Ronald McDonald house where families/kids waiting for transplants or treatment at UPMC who can’t afford hotels can stay. Unbelievable and heartless.</p>
<p>NjCave-- don’t let this affect your decision to attend Pitt. The University is responding to everything and they are doing An outstanding job. It could happen everywhere. You should be aware how MUCH the student body and campus officials are pulling together to help one another and make sure everyone has a safe harbor. That is an awesome aspect of “student life”. There are so many good people there who are so proud of their school. THAT is commendable. HAIL TO PITT</p>
<p>My son, a sophomore, lives off campus and feels very safe in his home, and the threats, evacuations and drama on campus are more an annoyance than a fear inducing occurrance. Friends who live in the dorms are a little freaked out by middle of the night evacuations. I am going to Pitt for the weekend for the concerts, I pray that we are allowed to enjoy the choir without interruption! The choir is traveling to Peru in a few weeks, and frankly, I’m more nervous about that than the situation on campus. Keep it in perspective folks…</p>
<p>I am a Pitt alum. Today I visited Pitt with my SIL & 13-yr old niece. We toured the Nationality Classrooms in the Cathedral of Learning. Security was no worse than visiting the Smithsonian Museums in DC. We were asked to show ID cards (drivers’ licenses) & sign in/out, but security did not even check our purses or my niece’s backpack. The lines were not overly long & the students were all cooperative & polite to the security people.</p>
<p>The definition of “terrorism” is “the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce.” It seems to me that the person(s) issuing these bomb threats is/are not merely pranksters; he/she/they are terrorists. For everyone’s safety, these threats must be presumed to be credible. </p>
<p>I salute those posters who urge vigilance, but also caution against hysteria. I hope that the nutcase terrorizing the university is caught soon, so that Pitt can return to normal & commencement ceremonies can be held. And I am proud of the Pitt community (students, faculty, administration & campus police) for pulling together & refusing to bow to these threats, because when we succumb to fear, the terrorist wins.</p>
<p>Well put 12rmh18! Pitt is too great of a University community decide not to go there based on one person’s behavior.<br>
My son sent me a text my a few minutes ago-- apparently threat number 57 was Heinz Chapel. So not only is this person sick…they think they are funny also!</p>
<p>Geeezzzz, TitanMom.</p>
<p>I know. I can’t believe that the jerk actually planned that out and has made that many threats. The whole thing is sounding more like a bad movie every day.</p>
<p>I’m hoping the new procedures Pitt has implemented regarding searching bags, etc, will allow the University to now revisit the mass evacuation policy it has adhered to with this situation. If the buildings are cleared at the beginning of the day and then those entering the building proceed through security, there should not be the need to evacuate every time a threat is made. The person or persons responsible for the threats no doubt is getting his/her jollies by acting as puppeteer with the University being the marionette. When the mass evacuations stop, most likely so will the threats.</p>
<p>I agree that there is no predicting which school will be next in getting some incident. Who would have thought that Virginia Tech would ever have that sort of thing? Or that Christian college in Oakland, Ca that recently had a shooting? There are nuts out there and it is impossible to predict when and where they will strike next.</p>
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<p>The law requires them to inform and evacuate any buildings that may put students in serious danger. One of the things that counts is a bomb threat. So, legally, Pitt is required to evacuate the building.</p>
<p>^ Agreed. Even though it’s annoying and expensive, if they don’t treat every threat with as much severity as the last one, the perpetrator may very well take advantage of the fact that the guards are down. We wouldn’t want a “boy who cried wolf” situation.</p>
<p>Awesome - I’m curious. What law is that? I highly doubt that the state legislature passed a law that requires a university evacuate a building everytime a bomb threat is made. You’re just asking for trouble then for any lunatic or unprepared student to call in such a threat knowing how the university will react. Also, I don’t know that state law requires that students be notified. Is is a smart thing to do? Absolutely. Students should always know what is going on and the student can then make personal decisions. But I doubt that the university is compelled by law to report through ENS each and every threat. Perhaps I am wrong, and would be very interested reading that law. Maybe it’s the university’s policy to do so, but it is not bound by policy the way it is bound by the law. The universiity can change its policy any time it wishes.</p>
<p>I tend to agree with pittsmom. The number of ENS alerts is what’s really distressing to students. I would prefer the university eliminate the notifications and evacuations (in some cases at least) in exchange for tight security and continual sweeps.</p>
<p>ENS is a voluntary sign up. Each Pitt staff member, faculty member and student is eligible to sign up and list 3 phone numbers to which ENS notices should be sent (phone, text or both). If you don’t want these emergency messages, ask your son to change the information he provided on the ENS sign up web site.</p>
<p>I don’t think the issue is that people don’t want ENS - it is a valuable tool. I think the issue is that everyone is on edge with this - and the constant barrage of ENS messages only exacerbates and heightens the anxiety. When you take the ENS messages and couple that with all of the evacuations, anxiety will shoot through the roof. </p>
<p>My point is that perhaps the ENS is being over-used and perhaps the university is evacauting buildings needlessly. If there is a credible threat, then that’s one story. But every time a general threat is made, especially now that there is building screening in place, it is not necessary to evacuate every general threat. Since they’ve screened, they already know what’s in the building.</p>
<p>Not to jinx anything - but so far so good today.</p>
<p>For anyone wondering, since Pittsmom asked, the law that Pitt is bound by is called the “Clery Act”.</p>
<p>Basically, anything that threatens the safety of students must be reported to the students by the university. I can’t find specifics, but I think there may me more about evacuations in the actual act…The Pitt News reported on it last week.</p>
<p>[Clery</a> Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clery_Act]Clery”>Clery Act - Wikipedia)</p>