Down at the Athens of the Corn Fields, someone reported a man threatening a woman with a gun, "somewhere in Iowa City." University of Iowa officials flashed out an e-alert (a "Hawk Warning") telling the 31,000 students to stay put and avoid the horrifying risk of being outdoors in the sprawling city of 68,000.
Local teevee found one of the panic-stricken students.
“We were terrified because we were going to have to walk back and everyone told us not to leave,” said ... a freshman student who was at a local restaurant when she received the message."
She was not alone in fright:
“The girl taking our orders was freaking out," (another coed) said. “Everyone behind us was like ‘Oh my God.’”
The police investigated and reported: "
the suspect was located in Muscatine, where he planned to spend the night with a family member. Local police talked to the man, but did not find a gun in his possession. Iowa City police are not planning on filing any charges because there is no concrete evidence in the case...
You can chalk up some of this to teevee doing what teevee lives for -- creating the highest possible drama from every pee-leg 911 call. Panic on campus draws viewers.
And much of it to university officials petrified at the thought of having a public relations problem, of not being seen as custodians of a venue safe as Sunday school.
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There's nothing wrong with some sort of communications system reporting potential danger, but these panic attacks every time a jittery citizen sees a firearm pretty much negates the value of any alert system.
