The other day I got a text message during class. That’s not an unusual ocurrence– my friends are big on texting– what was weird was the message. “NU EMERGENCY,” it read, “You are now confirmed to receive alerts from us.”
 
I know that most schools have this system by now. The University of Chicago used it when grad student Amadou Cisse was killed. The texting system is nothing new.
 
That doesn’t make it any less weird. Texting is for friends–and sometimes random advertisers who somehow get your number– not life-threatening emergencies.
 
But that’s where we are now. We’re scared and grasping for options. Meanwhile, we’ve got the NIU gunman becoming a regular man of mystery. According to the Chicago Tribune, Steven Kazmierczak took great pains to conceal why he did what he did, and why he did what he did when he did (Valentine’s Day), etc. It won’t make life better to know, but we all want to know–desperately. It’s a mystery of In Cold Blood proportions.
 
What kinds of weapons do we have to fight people like this? Not guns; that would be chaos. But some, like this commenter on political site PoliBlog, aren’t so sure:
 
Is it mere coincidence that so many of these attacks occur in gun-free zones, and so few happen where guns are allowed?
 
But I think the point is not so much that allowing guns would serve as a deterrent (possibly, but that point is debatable), but that once these attacks start, they usually only stop when one of two conditions is met: a) they run out of victims (or ammunition), or 2) they’re met with force (someone with a gun, either a police officer or a civilian (Jeanne Assam in Colorado, for example)).
 
Well, that’s obviously an inane idea. A whole classroom of stressed-out college kids packing heat? Please.
 
So, what are we left with? Our cell phones? The reliability of our Verizon plans?
 
Somehow, I’m not that comforted.