The University of Mississippi takes active precautions and provides specific guidelines before and during severe weather conditions whether you live on or off-campus, claim some Ole Miss’ students.
Students who have been here for longer than a semester are quite familiar with what happens every Wednesday at noon – routine testing of the University severe weather sirens. Although the noise is unbearable, loud and irritating it serves a much greater purpose than just to annoy you.
Besides the loud sirens, the University sends out mass emails to all enrolled students, regardless of their housing situation, and has posted guidelines on residential buildings to alert students of severe weather.
Students that originate from the U.S. are familiar with these conditions.
Andrew J. Bartholomew, a business marketing major student said, “Yes, I have a house in Georgia so we sort of have similar weather over there, so I am used to it and it doesn’t scare me that much.”
But what about students who haven’t experienced such weather and have to face it for the first time, such as international students?
According to Donna Chappell, the administrative coordinator at the Office of International Programs, there are 274 newly enrolled international students for the fall semester 2011. Additionally, fall of 2010 recorded 581 enrolled students but the numbers for fall 2011 are expected to increase, Chappell said.
It is up to the individual whether or not they choose to live on or off-campus.
Besian Nushi, an Albanian finance student at Ole Miss, shared his opinions and perceptions about severe weather guidelines and precautions taken by the UM.
“Personally, I don’t mind the weather,” he said. “But it is kind of weird for me to live in such an environment with such natural happenings. Before I came, I had seen such weather conditions only on TV but now I live in it. So for me it is an interesting experience.”
Besian, who is also a community assistant at Campus Walk, said he is glad UM takes precautionary actions before and during such weather – especially because he “wouldn’t know what to do if there weren’t any guidelines.”
“Before, at Campus Walk, we didn’t have specific guidelines for severe weather conditions,” he said. “Now that the staff posted huge signs with steps of what we need to do, I feel much safer and confident.”
Glendin Pano, a Greek psychology student shared similar views.
“My parents call me all the time when they hear something on the news back home. But I tell them that we have efficient and specific safety guidelines and that I am not that stupid to go out when there is a tornado warning!”
Sources:
- Besian Nushi bnushi@olemiss.edu
- Glendin Pano gpano@olemiss.edu
- Andrew J. Bartholomew ajbartho@olemiss.edu
- Donna Chappell, administrative coordinator, dpdcc@olemiss.edu
No comments:
Post a Comment