JENNA GONZALEZ
Staff Writer

SMART Communications, a web-based safety and communications system that works through cell phones and e-mail, has been a part of the FDU community for the past three years.

Most students know of SMART Communications through FDU Mobile, a mandatory program all resident students were required to have, which was only carried through Sprint.

At the start of the 2009 fall semester the program was no longer only available through Sprint, but through all mobile phone carriers.

“Students initiated the change. Students didn’t like the mandated FDU mobile phones. SGA on both campuses expressed frustrations. The students spoke, we listened and changed,” said Stuart Alper, Rave employee and project manager of FDU SMART Communications.

Other than making the program optional, not much has changed. Students who opt to continue using the program will still be able to access the various applications offered.

SMART Communications stands for “safety and mobile academic resource technology.”

Alper said the system does a lot of things, including accessing Blackboard from your phone. Students can have it programmed to notify them when their professors leave an announcement or post a grade to the site.

Alper explained that during heavy exam times students will no longer need to always be within five minutes of a computer. SMART Communications technology now allows students to receive class related alerts via text or e-mail.

“You can choose what classes you would like to subscribe to as well as what method you would like the message delivered to each class,” said Alper.

The SMART Communications Web site lists other applications that are available and has step-by-step directions for them.

Rave Guardian is still available to students, if they choose to continue using the program.
The application is used to “make your safe campus safer,” said Alper.

Rave Guardian works by creating a profile with information including someone’s height, weight and eye color. After a student confirms his or her cell phone number, he or she then creates a pin number for communicating with Public Safety.

If that student ever feels unsafe on campus, he or she can activate an alarm using the pin number and telling Public Safety where he or she is going and how long it will take to get there. If the student does not deactivate the alarm, Public Safety will begin to search for the student.

“You can leave a message saying your name, what you are wearing, where you are going, your room number and your roommate’s name. This way, if you do not pin out by the activated time, Public Safety can notify Florham Park police and they will be able to know your description, whereabouts and can call your RA and roommate to see if they have been in contact with you,” Alper said.

While Guardian has been available to the FDU community for three years, the only real change was that students now only have to make a phone call to activate it and no longer have to rely on global positioning, which only Sprint phones have.

In case of an emergency, there is a panic number to call which will send Public Safety to help. Students can register their cell phones and create Guardian accounts online.

“I think the Guardian and panic dial features are an excellent way for students to feel secure. FDU SMART Communications has really made a name for themselves with this service,” said Melinda Pinto, SGA president. “I think every student should take the initiative to learn more about the programs.”

In addition, phones that look similar to payphones have been installed on each floor of every residential building on campus. They are free to use and can reach any four-digit extension on campus.

There are 15 other features in the SMART Communications system. They include a program that allows students to study up to 100 questions on the go, and another program that allows students to participate in classroom polls held by their teachers.

Clubs can create individual groups that would allow them to communicate with each other the same way they do using WebCampus.

For more information on FDU SMART visit https://www.getrave.com/login/fdu.

As many students have noticed, lately our school has been put through various safety alerts. First, it
was the discovery of shotgun shells in the recreation center. Next it was a message that warned the campus about a possible bomb on campus. Some students may feel confused and possibly a bit scared.

The fact is that many don’t feel safe. We are left wondering why such things would happen on our campus. With the arrival of the FDU Mobile phones, most thought that campus communication would be improved. We would no longer have to rely on the faulty e-mail system, which we all know does not always work. If there was any important information to be conveyed to the whole campus community, or worse, if there was a possible safety threat, we would have the ability to be instantly warned and be kept informed of the campus’ happenings.

As of late, this does not seem to be true. Many are left wondering why the FDU Mobile text message system was not used to warn and inform students about the recent events. \

The day of the bomb threat on campus, I was working in The Metro office. All of a sudden, Student Life Director Sarah Azavedo knocked on the door and told me that everyone had to evacuate the building since there was a bomb threat. I had to admit I was a bit scared, and the overall presence of police and news helicopters flying overhead only heightened this feeling.

Outside, FDU professors, students and employees sat and stood across the grass, practically baffled by the situation. We stared at each other in puzzlement and talked to each other, trying to figure out what in the world was going on.

Students who just got out of class and were unaware of what was going on headed in groups to the Student Center, but were turned away at the door. No one understood what was going on. And it was only until hours later that I, as well most others in the FDU community, found out through e-mail.

I thought that we had FDU Mobile for a reason?

We are lucky that nothing happened, but something could have. The only thing is that officials apparently did not feel that a possible bomb on campus was an “immediate threat.”

The system “must only be used in the case of an immediate threat to the campus community,”
according to the mass e-mail sent to the community. The presence of shotgun shells in an
unlocked locker was also not considered a “threat.”

I don’t know about you, but I believe that both of these instances are threats. They put everyone in our FDU community in danger and I believe we should be warned and told to keep cautious and have our eyes open in such instances.

Plenty of students don’t check their FDU e-mail on a regular basis. If something did happen in either of these cases, a simple email warning could have proved to be fatal. Haven’t we learned from the tragedies across the nation in which e-mail was used to warn students?

Some might wonder, if such things as a bomb threat and shotgun shells found on campus aren’t considered “immediate threats,” what is?

Most students think that we should at least be warned of what is going on. Time is important in such cases, and to wait it out and see if there is really a threat present may prove to be fatal. FDU Mobile is here in part to protect students, to convey a feeling of safety, and to improve the overall campus communication. So why aren’t we using it that way?

LORENA CHOUZA
Published in the October 17, 2007 issue of The Metro

That’s right, starting this fall cellular phones will be handed out to every resident student on campus. FDU has teamed up with Rave Wireless and Sprint to create the brand new FDU Mobile Communication Program.

According to GetRave.com (the Rave Wireless Web site specifically dedicated to FDU’s new plan), the program is set out to “provide students with a new mobile phone-based safety and academic communication system.” Through this new plan students can always be connected to everything going on around campus. Things such as text messages will be sent to alert students about emergencies and school closings. The Web site explains that students will also be able to keep up to date on “events happening on campus; check the latest news from the Daily Record; view N.J. Transit schedules; easily group text messages with friends, hall mates, and members of clubs; check FDU e-mails and receive class changes and cancellation alerts from faculty.”

Another special feature included in every cell phone is Rave Guardian, which uses the Global Positioning System (GPS). Students could use this program to alert Public Safety whenever they feel unsafe on campus. Public Safety would then immediately know the student’s location and identity and set out to help them. Students could also use this program to set a timer, which if not deactivated would cause a Public Safety officer to call them at the end of the allotted time to make sure that they are safe. This would come in handy if a student feels unsafe walking across campus or back from their cars late at night.

Every resident student received their free Samsung M500 as soon as they’re cleared to enter their dorms and have picked up their room keys.

This phone includes 50 free anytime minutes a month and all of the programs mentioned above. Students will have unlimited nights (starting at 7 p.m.) and weekends and unlimited text messages to other Rave/Sprint mobile users. This phone and the base plan will be free for the 2007-2008 academic year only. A $100 fee will be charged to all residents students starting Fall 2008. Different plans that include more anytime minutes (from 400 to 2,000 minutes) range at about $20.25 to $70.25 a month. There are also four other phones to choose from with prices ranging from $99.99 to $269.99.

Commuter students that want to get in on the plan will also receive a free cell phone. The only catch is that they will have to pay an extra $29.74 a month. More information on phones and plans can be found at GetRave.com, or by visiting the FDU Mobile store on campus located downstairs in the library, in what used to be the Music Room.

The cell phones received by students will be replacing all landlines in residence halls. In this aspect, this may be a good idea since many felt that the landlines were not being used in the first place.

“The landlines were a joke,” said junior Nicole Leone. “They said we needed landlines and voicemail in case professors needed to contact us or to let us know about closings and stuff, but they never used them.” She doesn’t believe the new cell phones will be made much use of either.

Junior Katrina Musto thinks that the landlines did work well, yet many students didn’t install them.

“So making these new phones mandatory is a smart move, because that way students will be pushed to get them on the spot, as opposed to being lazy and forgetting about it,” she said.

The overall reason for these cell phones to come about is to have a quick, easy, and definite way to get in contact with students.

“I think it’s a good idea in that it will allow the college to relay messages more easily,” says junior Will Kole. The past usage of landlines and mass emails was unreliable because “not everyone sets up their landlines or checks their email,” he added. Yet Kole still doesn’t believe the new plan will be better than a normal email. It will just be another way of getting in touch with students.

Junior Amanda Damato believes that FDU Mobile might come in handy as a backup plan for already established resources on campus.

“I guess it could be a good thing,” she said. “For example, if the Web site’s down, which it often is. Letting students know about homework, exams, snow days. It might not be such a bad idea.”

Despite all this, problems are already surfacing on what should be done with the cell phone plans currently held by the students. Although FDU, Rave and Sprint are making it as easy as possible to switch over to the FDU Mobile plan (even handing students $50 reimbursements to switch their existing number to their new FDU Mobile phone), students are still puzzled as to what their final decision should be.

“I have a family plan on my phone, so for someone like me it doesn’t pay for me to get another
one through FDU,” Damato said.

Leone agrees, “I’m always on the phone with someone in my family and we can talk free since we all have the same service, but now we might have to get different plans and it might cost a lot more money. I think it’s unfair to add a requirement that’s so interfering.”

Many students seem to be using the FDU Mobile as their second cell phone, if at all.

“I plan on only using the FDU one as a second phone, like for emergencies,” Musto said. “I
will keep the FDU phone on and available, but will mainly use my cell phone.”

“It’s just kind of annoying because I think that one cell phone is enough,” Damato said.

Everyone agrees that it’s up to the university and the students together to make the best
of this new technology.

“A lot of people aren’t taking it too seriously already and they definitely won’t if the school doesn’t use the service and make it worth it,” Leone said. “We’ll see if these phones last.”

LORENA CHOUZA
Published in the August 29, 2007 issue of The Metro.