By now, it is hoped that you’ve all been informed of the bomb threat directed against O’Dowd Hall and the Oakland Center Tuesday, March 3. Classes were canceled, the buildings were closed and bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in.

First of all, we want to give a huge shout out and thank you to the Oakland University Police Department for their quick reactions, prompt evacuations and timely text message alerts. We appreciate feeling safe and protected at times like these.

Secondly, an additional thank you for the text message alert system implemented by University Technology Services. We are grateful to have this extra layer of communication so we can be informed about what is happening in a timely fashion that might not be readily available at other colleges.

Although, there is always something to be improved upon. For the future, it might be better to clarify in the text messages which buildings specifically have been threatened. Many students felt unnerved and were frightened when they received texts in class but didn’t know whether or not the building they were in was one that had been threatened.

We also feel reassured that surrounding communities provide extra resources. The Auburn Hills Fire Department was contacted and was on call to assist when the fire alarms went off, and the Sterling Heights Canine Unit brought in bomb-sniffing dogs to search both O’Dowd and the Oakland Center.

However, we were quite disappointed with fellow students who felt it necessary to cheer when they heard classes in O’Dowd were being canceled. We were let down by the sight of people rejoicing at a time when we should have been concerned that lives were being threatened.

Are we that desensitized to these threats? For all we know, this could very well have been a prank. We have been exposed to several threats in the past year. But, like “The boy who cried wolf,” how do we differentiate between a prank and something much more serious?

And, if this was just a prank, the person playing this “joke” got exactly what they wanted — a few hours off from school. This is ironic, considering we did just finished spring break. We wonder,were there any students disappointed at classes being canceled? Most of us are paying an arm and a leg for tuition, after all.  

Think about this — someone might think that it is clever to be able to disrupt classes, but it really isn’t funny when you take away from students’ college educations, tie up costly security resources and terrify other students. And you might want to stop and think about what would happen if you get caught — this is a crime you are committing, one which could result in a fine or a hefty jail sentence. And threats like these inspire copycats. A bad joke could easily turn into something much worse.

The Oakland Post is located in the OC, so when the staff was evacuated they began reporting on the events as they unfolded via twitter posts and uploading the story on oaklandpostonline.com. In the case of future events similar to these, refer to those resources for up to date information.